Devastating Greece rail crash which claimed at least 43 lives was due to 'a tragic human error', country's PM says
1 March 2023, 23:19 | Updated: 2 March 2023, 07:03
The Prime Minister of Greece has said a devastating rail disaster in the country, which claimed at least 43 lives, was due to "a tragic human error".
On Tuesday night just before midnight a passenger train carrying some 350 people crashed into a freight train as it emerged from a tunnel after leaving Larissa, the capital of Greece's Thessaly region.
Dozens of people were killed in the crash, and more than 80 people were injured.
It remains unclear why the two trains were running on the same track.
PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis said after visiting the site of the collision that everything pointed to "a tragic human error".
In a television address he said: "Justice will do its job. People will be held accountable, while the state will be on the side of the people."
The local stationmaster was arrested following the crash and has been charged with manslaughter.
The 59-year-old, who was not named by police, denies wrongdoing and has blamed the accident on a possible technical failure.
Following the incident, Greek transport minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned, saying he felt it was his "duty' to do so “as a basic indication of respect for the memory of the people who died so unfairly”.
Trade unions said the crash had highlighted chronic deficiencies, including broken lights, outdated facilities, and a lack of staff.
The first four carriages of the passenger train came off the rails and the first two caught fire and were "almost completely destroyed", Thessaly regional governor Kostas Agorastos said.
The train had been travelling from Athens to Thessaloniki, where there is a significant student population, and it's believed many of the passengers were students returning to the port city after a holiday for Greek Orthodox lent.
Stergios Minenis, a passenger who leapt to safety from the wreckage, told Reuters: "The fire was immediate. As we were turning over we were being burned."
Others were forced to smash carriage windows to escape from the flaming wreckage.
Rescue teams continue to search for survivors.
