Greek Minister of Transport Resigns Following Fatal Train Accident

Greece’s transport minister has announced his resignation in the wake of a deadly train crash that killed at least 36 people and injured dozens of others on Wednesday.

In a statement, he said it was his duty to resign and “the least he could do to honor the victims,” ​​adding that he bears responsibility for “the state’s long-standing failures.”

Emergency services say at least 36 people were killed in a direct accident between a freight train and a passenger train near the city of Larissa.

The death toll is likely to rise as more victims are identified. This may take time as DNA analysis will be needed, given the level of damage to the front-end carriages caused by the collision and subsequent fire, state broadcaster ERT reported.

At least 72 people were hospitalized, some with serious injuries.

There were 342 passengers and 10 railway employees on the passenger train from Athens to Thessaloniki as well as two drivers on the freight train.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the incident as an “unspeakable tragedy” while visiting the site in the middle of the day. He was clearly moved, and promised that the cause of the accident would be fully investigated.

He said the main task is to treat the injured and identify the dead bodies, adding that everything possible will be done to ensure that nothing like this happens again.

Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis promised that the results would not be hidden.

The Greek government ordered three days of national mourning for the victims.

Rescue workers were using cranes and other heavy equipment to try to lift the derailed train cars to search for survivors, according to reporters at the crash site near Larissa. The pictures showed the destruction and burning of two front cars of each train.

The passenger train collided head-on with a commercial train traveling on the same track. The Intercity 62 passenger train left the Greek capital at 7:22 pm (1722 GMT) on Tuesday evening.

About 350 passengers were said to be on board.