A crane, firefighters and rescuers operate after a collision in Tempe near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Two rail officials were being questioned by police but had not been detained. Niki Kitsantonis reported from Tempe, the city nearest to the site of the train collision in Greece, and Jason Horowitz reported from Rome. He was due to appear before a prosecutor Thursday to be formally charged. The government declared three days of national mourning from Wednesday, while flags flew at half-staff outside all European Commission buildings in Brussels. All your travel news: our automobile, motorcycle and tyre tips and good deals, routes, traffic updates and road network flashes, motoring services on your route and future innovations. Kostas A. Karamanlis, the Greek transport minister, announced hours after the crash that he would resign, saying in a statement that when something so tragic happens, its impossible to continue as if nothing had happened., Its a fact that we inherited the Greek railway in a state that is not fitting for the 21st century, he added. You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link included in the newsletter. Incredible moment Air Force breaks ship IN HALF with a single 2,000 pound 'quick sink' bomb dropped by F-15E Strike Eagle with 'torpedo-like' accuracy, Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni downs shots with fans in a New Jersey bar following chant of 'E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles' two weeks after his team's Super Bowl LVII defeat by the Chiefs, Kevin Durant scores 23 points on his Phoenix Suns debut as he helps his new team snap the Charlotte Hornets' five-game winning streak, At least 40 people are confirmed dead with more than a dozen still missing, A passenger train suffered a head-on collision with a cargo train near Larissa, Several dozen people are killed and at least 85 are injured in horrific head-on train crash in Greece - READ MORE. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. For the second time in three months, a Greece police chief wasinvolved in a crash. At least 36 people are dead and another 85 injured. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) Police are currently investigating a car crash that occurred early Sunday evening in the Town of Greece. No arrests or injuries were reported. He resigned on Wednesday afternoon, 'I've never seen anything like this in my entire life,' said one rescue worker, emerging from the wreckage. WebGreece, NY (August 16, 2022) At least one person sustained various injuries on Tuesday evening, August 16 th, after an automobile accident in the town of Greece. It was believed to be the body of one of the train drivers. He said it was a 'terrible train accident without precedent' in Greece which would be 'fully' investigated. Rescuers searched late into the night Wednesday for survivors amid the mangled, burned-out wrecks of two trains that collided in northern Greece, killing at least 43 people and crumpling carriages into twisted steel knots in the country's deadliest rail crash. The toll surpassed that of a 1968 collision involving two passenger trains near Corinth, about 40 miles west of Athens, which left 34 people dead. The death toll from the head-on collision of two trains in central Greece is likely to rise with officials acknowledging Well ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. Helena Smith in Athens. Video of the crash, which occurred moments after the passenger train emerged from under a highway underpass, showed the graffiti-scrawled passenger cars derailed, overturned and burned to a shell. In Athens, several hundred members of left-wing groups marched late Wednesday to protest the train deaths. Minor clashes broke out as some protesters threw stones at the offices of Greece's rail operator and riot police, and set dumpsters on fire. No arrests or injuries were reported. He said it appeared the crash was mainly due to a tragic human error, but did not elaborate. Train debris lies on the rail lines after a collision in Tempe, about 376 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens, near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. My hair is burning, he told ERT, without giving his name. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. The passenger train, carrying more than 350 people, had been travelling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. News Firefighters and rescuers collect a body after a collision in Tempe, about 376 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens, near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Despite the frosty relations between the two NATO members, Greece's leadership had called Erdogan last month following a massive earthquake that killed tens of thousands in Turkey. A passenger train carrying hundreds of people, including many university students returning home from holiday, collided before midnight Tuesday at high speed with an oncoming freight train. If they had been working, the drivers would have seen the red light and the trains would have stopped 500 meters away from each other, he added, noting that he and colleagues had frequently reported malfunctioning systems recently. Everything else we will deal with afterward, he said. Easy to understand pictograms are displayed on your map. A man who was trying to ascertain the fate of his daughter, who was on the train, said he had a harrowing phone conversation with her before she was cut off. The trains were completely destroyed, both passenger and freight trains.. Before dawn the next day, rescuers searched through twisted, smoking wreckage for survivors. GREECE, N.Y. (WROC) Interim Greece Police Chief Jason Helfer was hospitalized Wednesday, after a crash on Kuhn Road. Multiple cars derailed and at least three burst into flames after the two trains ran into each other at high speed just before midnight Tuesday, near the town of Tempe in northern Greece. (George Kidonas/AP), Firefighters collect a body after a collision in Tempe, about 376 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens, near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. The Greek police on Wednesday afternoon arrested the station manager in Larissa, about 20 miles south of the crash site, without giving a reason. March 1, 2023. This is indicated in the route summary. Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis makes statements to the media during his visit at the location of a collision of the train in Tempe, about 376 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens, near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Greece Police A huge chunk of metal from the other train had come through one of the windows.. This year was the first time the festival, which precedes Lent, was celebrated in full since the start of the pandemic in 2020. Karamanlis resigned Wednesday, saying he felt it was his "duty" to step down. Windows were shattering and people were screaming, a young man, who was not identified, told a television crew after surviving the crash. Published Feb. 28, 2023 Updated March 1, 2023, 2:25 a.m. It was not immediately clear what led to the crash, which happened as the passenger train traveled from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki just before midnight on Tuesday. Greeces firefighting service said 57 people remained hospitalized late Wednesday, including six in intensive care. Dozens dead after devastating train crash in Greece New York Daily News Train debris lies on the rail lines after a collision in Tempe, about 376 kilometers (235 This year was the first time the three-day festival, which precedes Lent, was celebrated in full since the start of the pandemic in 2020. Asked by reporters about the cause of the crash, Mr. Plevris said that it was not the right time to focus on the circumstances of the disaster. According to New York State Police, which is investigating the crash, interim Greece Police Chief Jason Helfer was driving west on Kuhn Road,near Country Place Lane, when another vehicle drove into the path of his town-issued sport utility vehicle. Greece police chief wasinvolved in a crash, pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. As Greece sought to process the tragedy, railway workers nationwide walked off the job on Thursday, saying successive governments had ignored repeated demands to improve safety standards. Athens metro workers also called a 24-hour strike for Thursday, saying they face similar problems as railway employees. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. 'I was stained with blood from other people who were injured near me,' a passenger named Lazos told the newspaper Proto Thema. What appeared to be the third carriage lay atop the clumped remains of the first two. The security camera clip showed a huge fireball rising hundreds of feet into the air immediately following the brutal impact, sparking the blaze that reduced two entire carriages to smouldering wreckage. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the collision of the passenger train and a freight train a horrific rail accident without precedent in our country, and pledged a full, independent investigation. It was unclear if or how the tragedy would reverberate across the political landscape. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. Many of the passengers were college students and other young people, Greeces health minister, Thanos Plevris, told reporters. It could still rise further, The collision between a freight and passenger train occurred near Tempe, some 380 kilometres (235 miles) north of Athens, and resulted in the derailment of several train cars. But train unionists said the station master was likely a scapegoat as the safety shortcomings of the Athens-Thessaloniki railway line had been known for years. More than 200 people who were unharmed or suffered minor injuries were taken by bus to Thessaloniki, 130 kilometers (80 miles) to the north. If an investigation proves that national safety standards were not in line with E.U. Authorities arrested the stationmaster at the trains last stop, in the city of Larissa. Preventive maintenance has been a problematic issue for years now, Spyros Pateras, the president of the Hellenic Railways Organization, the body that oversees rail infrastructure in Greece, told a transport conference last year. People donate blood for the injured passengers of the train collision in Larissa, about 355 kilometers (222 miles) north of Athens, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. TEMPE, Greece A head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train flattened carriages, killed at least 36 people, and injured some 85, Greek officials said Wednesday. The comments below have not been moderated. The three-car crash on Stone Road sent four individuals to the hospital, first responders confirmed. Angelos Tzortzinis for The New York Times. Eight rail employees were among those killed in the crash, including the two drivers of the freight train and the two drivers of the passenger train, according to Greek Railroad Workers Union President Yannis Nitsas. Smoke rises from trains as firefighters and rescuers operate after a collision near Larissa city, Greece, early Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Anyone can read what you share. Rescue workers in Greece frantically searched for survivors through flattened carriages and smoking wreckage on Wednesday after a high-speed, According to New York State Police, Helfer was driving his department-issued vehicle westbound when another driver traveling eastbound passed a driveway and backed up. 'My thoughts are with the people in Greece this morning,' tweeted the head of the European Council, Charles Michel. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Vasilis Ververidis/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. The minister was given the task of setting up a cross-party independent committee to investigate the cause of the disaster, and Mr. Mitsotakis said that the Greek judiciary would also do its work. Details are limited at this time. 'When something so tragic happens, we cannot continue as if nothing had happened,' Karamanlis said in a public statement. A passenger train carrying hundreds of people, including many university students returning home from holiday, collided at high speed before midnight Tuesday with an oncoming freight train. public events). (Giannis Papanikos/AP), Debris of trains lie on the rail lines as firefighters operate after a collision in Tempe, about 376 kilometres (235 miles) north of Athens, near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. People, naturally, were scared very scared, he said. He said that while the government had allocated 25 million euros, about $26.5 million, for maintenance, funding and staff have been lacking in recent years.. Experts noted that the country already had the worst record for rail safety in Europe and that endemic problems of maintenance had not been addressed for decades, even before austerity measures enforced by Europe after Greeces 2009 financial crisis led to drastic budget cuts. TEMPE, Greece (AP) Rescuers searched Wednesday through the burned-out wreckage of two trains that slammed into each other in northern Greece, killing at least 36 people and crumpling several carriages into twisted steel knots. A safety supervisor had resigned last year, warning that infrastructure upgrades pending since 2016 were incomplete and that train speeds of up to 200 kilometres (124 miles) an hour were unsafe. They said others fought to free themselves after the passenger train buckled, slamming into a field near the gorge, about 235 miles north of Athens. (Giannis Papanikos/AP), Firefighters operate after a collision in Tempe, about 376 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens, near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Two women, Elisavet, 60, and Georgia, 59, were sitting on the steps outside the hospital awaiting word about their sister, who worked as a ticket inspector and had been on the Athens-Thessaloniki train. Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. A train carrying hundreds of passengers collided with an oncoming freight train in northern Greece, killing and injuring dozens passengers. (Vaggelis Kousioras/AP), Firefighters operate after a collision in Tempe near Larissa city, Greece early Wednesday, March 1, 2023. The priority now is to nurse the injured and support the families who have lost their loved ones. Karamanlis resigned Wednesday, saying he felt it was his "duty" to step down. Wood will officially be sworn in as chief on January 15th. Elisavet, who had traveled from Athens and like her sister declined to give her surname because she did not want more exposure, said: The myth about the safety of traveling by train has finally collapsed., Mr. Karamanlis, the transport minister, who choked up earlier in the day while talking to reporters at the site of the crash, said later that he was resigning as the minimum expression of respect to the memory of those who were so unfairly lost and that he was assuming responsibility for the chronic ailments of the Greek state and the political system.. In total, 118 stories have been published about Greece, New York which Ground News has aggregated in the past 3 months. In addition, traffic flow (green: smooth traffic, red: traffic jams, orange: slow moving traffic, black: road closed) is available on the map. They did not release the mans name or the reason for the arrest, but the stationmaster is responsible for rail traffic on that stretch of the tracks. He said windows shattered, showering riders with glass. Rail operator Hellenic Train said the northbound passenger train to Thessaloniki, Greeces second-largest city, had about 350 passengers on board. 'The collision was like a huge earthquake.'. Rescuers searched for survivors Wednesday in the mangled, burned-out wreckage of two trains that slammed into each other in northern Greece, killing at least https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/01/world/europe/greece-train-crash.html. Firefighters collect bodies after a collision in Tempe near Larissa city, Greece early Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Helfer swerved toavoid a collision, but he lost control of the SUV and struck a telephone pole, according to Greece Police. Survivors have told of a "nightmarish 10 seconds" as their train carriage overturned and was engulfed in flames in a crash in central Greece. (George Kidonas/AP), Smoke rises from trains as firefighters and rescuers operate after a collision near Larissa city, Greece, early Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Television footage showed red cranes looming over the twisted, charred wreckage, as police and rescue workers in fluorescent jackets surveyed the scene. Many of the approximately 350 people aboard the passenger train were students returning fromGreeces raucous Carnival, officials said. A passenger train carrying hundreds of people, including many university students returning home from holiday, collided at high speed before midnight Tuesday with an oncoming freight train. I feel so sorry for the parents of these kids.. Our carriage didnt derail, but the ones in front did and were smashed, he said, visibly shaken. He used a bag to break the window of his car, the fourth, and escape. Seventeen biological samples have been collected from remains, and from 23 relatives seeking a match, the police said. Emergency workers used cranes and other heavy machinery to move large pieces of the trains, revealing more bodies and dismembered remains. (Giannis Papanikos/AP), Train debris lies on the rail lines after a collision in Tempe, about 376 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens, near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. 'Windows were being smashed and people were screaming One of the windows caved in from the impact of iron from the other train,' another passenger, who escaped from the fifth carriage, told Skai TV. Hopes of finding anyone still alive in the wreckage more than 34 hours later appeared slim. They were looking around, searching; they didnt know where they were.. Green vehicles: which motorisation for which use? The army was assisting with the rescue operation, and the Greek minister for civil protection, Christos Stylianides, was coordinating the states response. 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