A serious accident occurs in Greece.
Two trains collide head-on.
At least 38 people die.
The news ticker.
Serious accident: In Greece, a passenger train collides with a freight train.
The number of fatalities is increasing: According to the fire department, at least 38 people died.
The cause of the accident is clarified: investigations are ongoing.
Much points to a “tragic human error”.
Update from March 2nd, 5.47 a.m .:
After the devastating train accident in Greece, the authorities said they wanted to fully clarify the causes of the collision between the two oncoming trains.
This also includes identifying the victims.
Many of the bodies are burned and can only be identified by DNA analysis, writes the German Press Agency (dpa).
The number of victims could therefore continue to rise.
So far, everything indicates that the accident could be attributed to a "tragic human error".
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a speech on Wednesday evening.
On the same day, Minister of Transport Kostas Karamanlis announced his resignation, according to dpa.
Criticism came from railway workers that the electronic control system on the affected route from Athens to Thessaloniki had not been working for a long time.
Therefore, the station masters are responsible for coordinating the trains almost by hand.
This is said to have put the passenger train on the same switch as the oncoming freight train.
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Visit to the scene of the accident: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis got an idea for himself and promised clarification.
© Dimtiris Papamitsos/dpa
Train accident in Greece: So far 38 dead and dozens injured in the collision
Update from March 1, 10:16 p.m .:
After the head-on collision of two trains in Greece, the number of dead has increased to at least 38 people.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis attributed the accident to human error.
"Everything indicates that, sadly, the drama happened largely due to tragic human error," Mitsotakis said in a televised address on Wednesday.
Dozens of people were injured in the train accident in Greece, and several others were still missing on Wednesday evening.
Train accident in Greece: "Operation to free trapped people continues"
Update from March 1, 7:18 p.m .:
According to the fire department, more victims are to be feared after the worst train accident in the history of Greece.
By Wednesday afternoon, a total of 36 dead had been recovered and 85 injured had been taken to the hospital.
However, the death toll could still increase, as people are still suspected to be in the pile of rubble.
"The operation to free trapped people continues," said fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis.
The rescue work is "very difficult," said Konstantinos Giannakopoulos from the doctors' union in Larisa on TV channel ERT.
Some of the 500 rescue workers tried to get into the crushed wagons with metal scissors.
The wrecks lying next to the railway line were lifted with two large cranes.
Regional governor Kostas Agorastos said on Skai that the death toll will likely be "very high" in the end.
Update from March 1, 5:43 p.m .:
After the devastating train accident in Greece, Chancellor Olaf Scholz also expressed his condolences.
"It's terrible news about the train accident in Greece," wrote Germany's head of government via Twitter: "We mourn with our Greek friends and think of the victims and their families.
We wish you a lot of strength in these difficult hours.”
After a train accident in Greece: Transport Minister Karamanlis announces his resignation
Update from March 1, 3:45 p.m .:
Minister of Transport Kostas Karamanlis has drawn the consequences of the train accident with at least 36 deaths and has resigned from his post.
The current government took over the Greek railways three and a half years ago in a state that does not fit into the 21st century, Karamanlis said.
Since then, everything has been done to improve this situation: "Unfortunately, these efforts were not enough to prevent such an accident.
This is very difficult for all of us and for me personally.”
When something so tragic happens, it is not possible to carry on as if nothing had happened.
He considers it essential that the citizens can trust the political system: "For this reason I am resigning from the position of Minister for Infrastructure and Transport." Karamanlis said he felt obliged to take responsibility for the mistakes of the Greek state and once again expressed its condolences to the families of the victims.
Update from March 1, 2:15 p.m .:
In the train accident in Greece with at least 36 dead, according to a report by the state broadcaster
ERT
, 72 people were injured, some seriously, and taken to nearby hospitals.
A total of 354 people were involved in the accident: 342 passengers and ten railway employees on the passenger train from Athens to Thessaloniki and two train drivers on the freight train.
The identification of the many victims is therefore only possible through a DNA analysis, because the first wagons of the trains burned out.
Update from March 1, 1:45 p.m .:
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised after the train accident with dozens of deaths at the accident site that the cause would be fully clarified.
It was an "unspeakable tragedy," said the visibly affected head of government.
First of all, the main task is to treat the wounded and identify the bodies.
We will do everything we can to ensure that something like this never happens again.
Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis tearfully assured that nothing would be swept under the carpet.
Arrest after a train accident with 36 dead in Greece - first suspicion of the cause
Update from March 1, 10:40 a.m .:
The Greek government has ordered a three-day national mourning in view of the serious train accident with 36 dead and dozens injured.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was expected at the scene of the accident north of the city of Larisa on Wednesday morning.
The railway workers' union said it was the worst train accident in the country's history.
According to state broadcaster ERT, many more deaths are feared.
The first two carriages of the passenger train had been shattered by the impact and then caught fire.
Initial assumptions about the cause of the accident point to human error.
According to media reports, the electronic control system did not work on the route - there are said to have been problems with it for a long time.
Therefore, the respective station masters were responsible for the correct forwarding of the trains.
The passenger train could have been sent from the Larisa train station onto the wrong track - on which the freight train later met it.
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After the serious train accident in Greece with fatalities and injuries, the rescue and recovery work is in full swing.
© George Kidonas/dpa
Train accident in Greece: State television reports arrest
Update from March 1, 8:27 a.m .:
In addition to the rescue and recovery, the cause of the serious head-on collision of the two trains is currently being dealt with on site.
Especially how it could be possible that the Intercity from Athens to Thessaloniki was traveling on the same tracks as the oncoming freight train, even though the route has been expanded to two lanes.
The railway boss responsible for the section had already been arrested, it said on state television.
Other railroad workers and technicians would be questioned.
The traffic authority of the nearby city of Larisa has started investigations into the cause of the accident.
Many connecting railway lines were closed to train traffic for the time being.
Meanwhile, desperate relatives gathered at the train station in the northern Greek port of Thessaloniki at night, and telephone hotlines were set up.
Many of the dead can reportedly only be identified by DNA testing.
Around 200 passengers, who were not injured or only slightly injured, were taken by bus from the scene of the accident to Thessaloniki, 150 kilometers away.
Many of the passengers are said to have been young people, students who were on their way to the University of Thessaloniki after a long weekend due to a public holiday.
Train crash in Greece: death toll increases
Update from March 1, 5:55 a.m .
: According to the fire department, at least 32 people died in the serious train accident in Greece on Wednesday night.
Another 53 people were seriously injured and treated in hospitals.
"The search and rescue operation is ongoing," said a spokesman for the fire department on state television.
"It's a tragedy," said a firefighter on state television from the scene of the accident near the city of Larisa.
Rescuers used cranes and other heavy equipment to try to lift the derailed wagons to search for survivors and victims, reporters at the scene said.
No details were available from official sources about the circumstances of the accident.
According to the first information from railway workers, a passenger train that started from Athens collided head-on with a freight train coming from the opposite direction - from the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki.
The passenger train was the Intercity 62, which left Athens at 7:22 p.m. on Tuesday evening for Thessaloniki with around 350 passengers.
At least 36 dead after train crash in Greece: pictures show the extent
At least 36 dead after train crash in Greece: pictures show the extent
Original message
: Athens – Around 350 travelers and 20 railway workers are said to have been on board the two trains when the tragic accident occurred in Greece on Wednesday night.
According to initial findings, at least 26 people died in the serious train accident.
This was reported by the German Press Agency (dpa)
early in the morning, citing a fire department spokesman.
On state television, the spokesman said, among other things, that a freight train collided with a passenger train in the train accident.
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Greece: Smoke billows as firefighters and rescue workers work after two trains collided near Larisa.
© Vaggelis Kousioras/AP +++ dpa picture radio +++
Serious train accident in Greece: at least 26 dead – rescue workers are looking for survivors in the rubble
Accordingly, there are numerous injured, according to the first information around 85 people.
Some of them were seriously injured in the train accident.
"The search and rescue operation is ongoing.
Even with heavy equipment, ”said the spokesman.
The fire brigade and rescue workers are currently trying to find survivors in the rubble.
“Most of the injured have head injuries, broken pelvises, arms and legs.
Unfortunately, there are numerous people who are still in the rubble," a member of a rescue team told reporters at the scene.
What exactly happened on Wednesday night is still unclear.
No details were available from official sources about the circumstances of the accident.
According to the first information from railway workers, a passenger train collided head-on with a freight train coming from the opposite direction.
The first three carriages of the passenger train were smashed, eyewitnesses said.
Greek television showed videos from the scene of the accident near Tempi in central Greece.
Greece: Survivor tells of dramatic scenes on site
A survivor said fire broke out on the passenger train after the collision.
"There was chaos and a roar from hell," he added on state television.
"We smashed the window panes with our suitcases and groped our way out of our wagon in the dark," said a young man.
The train had started in Athens and headed to the Greek port of Thessaloniki, other survivors reported on television.
The route, which connects Athens with the northern Greek port of Thessaloniki, has been modernized in recent years.
The Greek railways (Hellenic Train) are operated by the Italian state railway Ferroviaria dello Stato Italiano (FS).
Railway workers said on the Greek broadcaster Real FM that, despite the modernization, there were significant problems with the electrical coordination of traffic control.
List of rubrics: © Dimtiris Papamitsos/dpa