The head of Larissa train station, in central Greece, was arrested this Wednesday following the violent head-on collision between two trains that killed at least 36 people on Tuesday night, a police source said.
“The 59-year-old station master has been arrested. The charges against him will be announced shortly,” said the same source, quoted by the French news agency AFP.
The trains collided just before midnight local time (10 p.m. in Lisbon) near Tempe, a small town located in a valley with a railway tunnel about 300 kilometers north of Athens. The collision derailed several carriages and at least three caught fire.
According to the fire service, at least 66 people had to be taken to hospital, six of whom are in intensive care.
Passengers who suffered minor injuries or left unharmed were transported by bus to Thessaloniki, 130 kilometers north of the country.
The regional governor of the region of Thessaly, Costas Agorastos, told Greek television Skai that the two trains collided head-on and at high speed.
The Hellenic Train railway company said the passenger train, which connected Athens to the city of Thessaloniki, in the north of the country, was carrying about 350 people at the time of the collision.
According to statements by Tempe Mayor Yorgos Manolis to public broadcaster ERT, many students were on the train after a long weekend.
Apparently the trains – one for passengers and one for freight – both operated by the company Hellenic Train, were traveling on the same track at high speed at the time of the accident, suggesting human error as the cause of the accident.
The Public Prosecution Service opened an investigation to clarify the exact causes of the tragedy.
Source: DN
