Greece train crash which left 43 dead was ‘mainly due to tragic human error’, prime minister says
At least 43 people have died in a train crash in Greece, with the country’s prime minister saying the disaster appeared to be mainly down to “tragic human error”.
The search continues for survivors after a passenger service collided with a freight train carrying shipping containers and travelling in the opposite direction but on the same track at speeds believed to be up to 100mph.
Carriages derailed and then burst into flames in Greece‘s deadliest rail crash in living memory. Temperatures in one carriage rose to 1,300C (2,370F) after it caught fire.
Some passengers kicked through windows to escape the inferno late on Tuesday, while others were thrown 40 metres due to the impact of the crash.
The passenger service had left Athens and was heading to the northern city of Thessaloniki when the collision happened near the central town of Larissa, 200 miles north of the capital.
Many of the victims were thought to be university students returning home after a long holiday weekend.
Some 57 people remain in hospital, with six of them in intensive care, while 15 others have been discharged, according to the country’s fire service.
The passenger train was said to be carrying around 350 passengers. More than 200 people who were left unharmed were taken by buses to Thessaloniki.
Stergios Minenis, 28, who jumped to safety from the wreckage, said: “There was panic… The fire was immediate. As we were turning over we were being burned, fire was right and left.”
‘People were screaming’
A passenger, who escaped from the fifth carriage, told Skai TV: “Windows were being smashed and people were screaming… One of the windows caved in from the impact of iron from the other train.”
Another said: “There was fire next to us. We found a hole and from there we managed to get out. The wagon started to spin, and then it ended up on its side and we got out.
“It was a nightmarish 10 seconds, in the flames. There was panic in the carriage, you couldn’t see around you because of the smoke.”
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called it “a horrific rail accident without precedent in our country,” as he promised a full, independent investigation.
He said it appeared the crash was “mainly due to a tragic human error,” but did not give further details.
A station master was arrested as investigators tried to work out why the two trains had been on the same track “for many kilometres”, while the country’s transport minister Kostas Karamanlis has resigned.
Eight rail employees were among those killed, 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.
Read more:
What we know so far about the crash
Questions now turn to how the tragedy happened
The location of the rail crash
The rescue operation will continue into the night, with heavy machinery needed to move the huge train carcasses, so crews can painstakingly search through the wreckage.
“It’s unlikely there will be survivors, but hope dies last,” said rescuer Nikos Zygouris.
Larissa’s chief coroner, Roubini Leondari, said 43 bodies had been brought to her for examination, and would require DNA identification as they were largely disfigured.
“Most (of the bodies) are young people,” she told ERT. “They are in very bad condition.”
The government declared three days of national mourning until Friday, with flags flying at half-mast in a tribute to the victims.
The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.
European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.
Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.
Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.
Ukraine war latest: Kyiv to discuss ending war in talks in Switzerland
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Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20
The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.
One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.
Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.
Read more:
Trump’s 28-point Ukraine peace plan in full
Analysis: We could all pay if Europe doesn’t guarantee Ukraine’s security
Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters
“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.
“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”
Pic: AP
On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.
“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.
“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Pic: AP
Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.
Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.
There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.
But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.
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