Greece train crash: at least 36 dead and dozens injured after two trains collide in horror head-on collision

At least 36 people are reported to have been killed and dozens left injured after a passenger train collided with an oncoming freight train in northern Greece.

Fire Service Officials said multiple train carriages derailed and at least three caught fire after the crash just before midnight on Wednesday (28 February) near Tempe, some 235 miles north of Athens.

Rescue crews illuminated the scene with floodlights before dawn as they searched through the twisted, smoking wreckage for survivors.

Survivors of the horror crash said several passengers were thrown through the windows of the train carriages due to the impact. They said others fought to free themselves after the passenger train buckled, slamming into a field next to the tracks near a gorge north of Athens where major highway and rail tunnels are located.

Vassilis Polyzos, a local resident who was one of the first people on the scene, said: “There were many big pieces of steel. The trains were completely destroyed, both passenger and freight trains.”

He said that dazed and disoriented people were escaping out of the train’s rear cars as he arrived, adding: “People, naturally, were scared — very scared. “They were looking around, searching; they didn’t know where they were.”

The trains crashed just before the Vale of Tempe - a gorge that separates the regions of Thessaly and Macedonia. Costas Agorastos, the regional governor of the Thessaly area, told Greece’s Skai television that the trains crashed head on at high speed. He said: “Carriage one and two no longer exist, and the third has derailed.”

He added: “It was a very powerful collision. This is a terrible night… it’s hard to describe the scene.”

Rescuers wearing head lamps worked in thick smoke to pull pieces of mangled metal from the carriages in search of survivors who were trapped, while others searched the field and checked underneath the wreckage.

Several of the dead are believed to have been found in the restaurant area near the front of the passenger train which was carrying hundreds of people.

Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Varthakoyiannis said: “The evacuation process is ongoing and is being carried out under very difficult conditions due to the severity of the collision between the two trains.”

Mr Varthakoyiannis added that hospital units used to treat burn victims had been alerted in the area and dozens of ambulances were involved in the rescue effort.

Officials said many of the passengers on board the Athens to Thessaloniki train had been students returning home after celebrating Carnival over the long weekend.

Deputy Health Minister Mina Gaga said: “This is a terrible tragedy that is hard to comprehend. I feel so sorry for the parents of these kids. The front section of the train was smashed… we’re getting cranes to come in and special lifting equipment to clear the debris and lift the rail cars. There’s debris flung all around the crash site.”

The army has been contacted to assist in the rescue, the government said. The possible cause of the collision was not immediately clear. Two rail officials were being questioned by police but had not been detained.

Passengers who received minor injuries or were unharmed were transported by bus to Thessaloniki, 80 miles to the north. Police took their names as they arrived, in an effort to track anyone who may be missing.

Rail operator Hellenic Train said the northbound passenger train from Athens to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, had about 350 passengers on board.

Hellenic Train, which has added high-speed services in recent years, is operated by Italy’s FS Group, which runs rail services in several European countries.