A number of people were killed and many injured, on Tuesday evening, in a collision between two trains in the city of Larissa in central Greece, according to the official news agency “Anna”, citing ambulance teams.
The agency said that preliminary information indicates that the accident was caused by a collision of a freight train with a passenger train with 350 passengers on board, noting that the accident resulted in three vehicles derailing.
The passenger train was on a journey from the capital, Athens, to Thessaloniki, in the northeast of the country, according to the same source.
For its part, the public TV channel “ART” said that the accident led to the burning of one of the passenger train carriages, noting that the flames surrounded a number of passengers.
Large numbers of ambulance, rescue and rapid intervention teams participated in the rescue operation.
According to the local news site “Onlarisa”, police units, 40 firefighters and 30 ambulances rushed to the scene to rescue “dozens of wounded”.
For its part, the official news agency confirmed that the firefighting teams were able to control the fire at night.
“Anna” quoted ambulance teams as saying that the accident resulted in “dozens of wounded, and many people were found unconscious or dead.”
According to several Greek media, the initial death toll from the accident is at least 6 dead and dozens injured.
“We had a very horrible experience,” local newspaper Protothema quoted one of the survivors, Lazus, as saying.
He added, “I was not injured, but I am stained with the blood of other people who were injured next to me.”
