Greek transport minister resigns after train crash

• At least 43 people died after the train crash.
• Many of the passengers on the train were students.
• Rescuers discovered victims’ bodies up to 40 meters away from the railway line.

Greek Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned after a freight train crashed with a passenger train on the country’s principal railway route from Athens to Thessaloniki, killing at least 43 people.

The Tuesday night tragedy, Greece‘s biggest railway crash in decades, occurred when two trains were apparently traveling in opposing directions on the same track.

Many of the passengers on the train were students returning after a lengthy Greek holiday weekend. According to survivors who spoke to Greek media, the impact of the accident was so powerful that it threw numerous passengers through the windows. Rescuers discovered victims’ bodies up to 40 meters away from the railway line.

According to Roubini Leontari, head coroner of Larissa’s general hospital, the majority of the dead were young people, and some would need to be identified via DNA.

‘Died so unfairly’

According to police officials, the stationmaster in the nearby city of Larissa was arrested on Wednesday and accused of misdemeanor and mass murders caused by negligence.

Karamanlis said he thought it was his “duty” to step down “as a basic indication of respect for the memory of the people who died so unfairly”.

He claimed that when his government took office in 2019, it inherited a railway system unsuited for the twenty-first century, but that his ministry’s efforts to repair it were insufficient to avert Tuesday’s catastrophe.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced three days of formal mourning while visiting the accident site on Wednesday, saying, “I can tell you that we will find out the causes for this tragedy and will do all possible so that this does not happen again.”

As part of the country’s Eurozone bailout program, the Greek railway known as TrainOSE sold its trains to the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane group in 2017 and was rebranded Hellenic Train in 2021. It held control of the railway network.

The newly formed company was expected to invest hundreds of millions in needed infrastructure. In a statement on Wednesday, the company said it would “ensure the maximum support to the injured and their families”.

A fire brigade spokesperson said passengers were still being rescued on Wednesday afternoon under “difficult conditions” because of the severity of the crash. “We are living through a tragedy. We are pulling out people who are alive, injured . . . and there are many dead,” he said.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen expressed her condolences to the Greek people, writing on Twitter, “The whole of Europe is mourning with you.”

Also Read

Greece PM – Human error to blame for train crash

At least 43 people died in a train crash. Rescue personnel is...