Train crash near Larissa, Greece leaves 32 dead, more injured

A train crash close to the Greek city of Larissa has left 32 people dead and many more injured, emergency services have confirmed.

A train reportedly carrying around 350 passengers hit a freight train traveling in the opposite direction on Tuesday night.  

Greek Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Varthakogiannis confirmed that 194 passengers had been transported safely to Thessaloniki and 20 people taken by bus to Larissa. He added that of the 85 people injured, 53 were still in hospital.

Varthakogiannis also confirmed that rescuers are working through the night looking for other survivors.

The passenger train had been traveling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki when it collided with the freight train, which caused a fire in at least one of the carriages.

The Greek railway company, Hellenic Train, issued a press release confirming that there had been “a head-on collision between two trains: a freight train and train IC 62 which had departed from Athens to Thessaloniki.”

The exact cause of the crash has not yet been determined.

One survivor described how the carriage erupted in flames as it toppled over following the impact.

“We heard a big bang,” passenger Stergios Minenis was quoted as saying by Reuters.

“It was a nightmarish 10 seconds. We were turning over in the carriage until we fell on our sides and until the commotion stopped. Then there was panic. Cables, fire. The fire was immediate. As we were turning over we were being burned. Fire was right and left,” Minenis went on to say.