The head of the railway station in the city of Larissa, who was on duty when a passenger train and a freight train collided in Greece, causing at least 36 deaths and 85 injuries, was arrested.
It is a 59-year-old man, according to the AFP agency, citing a local police source.
The reasons for the accident are still being investigated by the Greek Public Ministry, but everything indicates that it was a human error.
Either the two trains were traveling on the same track and collided at high speed, or one of the trains derailed and, as it left the track, collided with the other that would follow a parallel track, according to reports by the Greek television channel SKAI TV.
The regional governor of the Thessaly area, Costas Agorastos, told Greek Skai television that the two trains collided head-on.
Several carriages derailed and at least three caught fire after the accident, which occurred just before midnight (10 p.m. Lisbon time) near Tempe, some 380 kilometers north of Athens.
Rail operator Hellenic Train said the passenger train, which linked Athens with the northern city of Thessaloniki, was carrying around 350 people at the time of the collision.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared three days of national mourning for the victims of the tragedy.
From this Wednesday until next Friday all public celebrations are suspended and the flags will be at half mast in all public buildings.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis is traveling to the crash site, and the country’s president, Katerina Sakelaropulu, has promised that she will also visit the region soon.
Source: TSF
