Survivors of a train crash in Greece describe “nightmarish seconds”

• At least 36 people were killed and dozens more were injured in a head-on collision between two trains.
• Rescuers have been searching for survivors all night.
• People have described having to crawl through windows and over broken glass in order to escape.

Survivors described a “nightmarish 10 seconds” as their train carriage overturned and caught fire in a crash in northern Greece.

At least 36 people were killed and dozens more were injured in a head-on collision between two trains on Tuesday night near the city of Larissa.

Rescuers have been searching for survivors all night.

”We heard a big bang,” said 28-year-old passenger Stergios Minenis, who jumped to safety from the wreckage.

“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,” Mr Minenis was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

“For 10, 15 seconds it was chaos. Tumbling over, fires, cables hanging, broken windows, people screaming, people trapped.”

People have described having to crawl through windows and over broken glass in order to escape.

According to one shaken passenger who spoke, “the windows suddenly exploded” and “people were screaming and were afraid.”

“Fortunately, we were able to open the doors and escape fairly quickly. In other wagons, they did not manage to get out, and one wagon even caught fire.”

Survivors claimed they were forced to break carriage windows with their bodies or luggage in order to escape the burning wreckage.

Passenger Angelos Tsiamouras told Greek television station that the crash felt like an earthquake, and that he smashed the train window with his suitcase. “We broke the windows with our backs,” another unnamed passenger said.

Lazos, one of the survivors, told the newspaper: “I wasn’t hurt, but I was stained with blood from other people who were injured near me.”

The train was on its way from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki when it collided with another freight train, causing a fire in at least one of the carriages.

It is being described as the worst train crash in Greek history, but the cause of the collision is unknown. According to local media, an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the crash.

Sixty-six people were also injured in the collision, with reports indicating that many of the passengers were young people returning to Thessaloniki after a Greek Orthodox Lent holiday.

According to Greek emergency services, approximately 150 firefighters and 40 ambulances were on the scene, with cranes also being used to remove debris.

“It was a very powerful collision,” the regional governor of the Thessaly region, Kostas Agorastos, told state-run television.

“This is a terrible night… It’s hard to describe the scene.”

He said the first four carriages of the passenger train were derailed, and the first two carriages caught fire and were “almost completely destroyed.”

“They were travelling at great speed and one (driver) didn’t know the other was coming,” the governor said.

Footage of the collision’s aftermath showed thick plumes of smoke rising from derailed carriages.

Because of the “severity of the collision,” conditions for rescue workers were “very difficult,” according to fire service spokesman Vassilis Varthakoyiannis.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire life. It’s tragic. Five hours later, we are finding bodies,” an exhausted rescuer emerging from the wreckage told a news agency.

“We are living through a tragedy. We are pulling out people alive, injured… there are dead. We are going to be here all night, until we finish, until we find the last person,” According to Reuters, another volunteer rescue worker told the state broadcaster.

The tragic incident has prompted the government to declare three days of national mourning.

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