'Carnage' after trains collide in Greece

[John Ashworth]

Carnage after trains collide near Greek city of Larissa

Two trains have collided in northern Greece with the loss of at least 29 lives and dozens of people injured, emergency services say... A train said to be carrying some 350 passengers hit a freight train. Footage published on local news sites showed thick plumes of smoke rising from derailed carriages. Around 150 firefighters and 40 ambulances were at the scene, the fire service said. It is not yet known what caused the collision with the passenger train, which was travelling between Thessaloniki and Larissa...

Greece train crash: at least 29 killed and dozens injured in collision

At least 29 people have been killed and 85 injured after two trains collided near the town of Tempe in central Greece, the fire brigade said. The two trains – a passenger train travelling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki, and a cargo train from Thessaloniki to Larissa, collided head-on outside the central Greek city, Konstantinos Agorastos...

[John Ashworth]

Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM

One of Greece's worst-ever rail disasters, which claimed at least 43 lives, was due to "tragic human error", the country's prime minister has said... The local stationmaster has been charged with manslaughter. The Greek transport minister has resigned... It is still unclear why the two services were running on the same track. The stationmaster, who is in charge of signalling, denies wrongdoing and has blamed the accident on a possible teIt is still unclear what caused the crash but the regional governor says the two services were running on the same track... Announcing his resignation, Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis stated: "When something so tragic happens, it is impossible to continue and pretend it didn't happen." Trade unions said collisions have multiple factors and the crash had highlighted chronic deficiencies, including lack of staff, broken signals and outdated facilities...

Greece train crash: What we know so far

It is still unclear what caused the crash but the regional governor says the two services were running on the same track. A local station master, based at Larissa which the passenger train had passed through, has been arrested. Police say the 59-year-old has been charged with manslaughter by negligence and grievous bodily harm by negligence. The station master, who is in charge of signalling, denies wrongdoing and has blamed the accident on a possible technical failure. The head of the union that represents workers from Greece's Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) says the initial conclusion from an investigation into the crash is that it happened due to human error. However, according to local media, Nikos Tsikalakis also says that more than one factor is needed for such an incident to happen and the complete picture of circumstances is not yet known. In an interview with Radio ENA, he referenced a lack of workers in the rail network - saying that while there should be more than 2,000 employees nationally, there are currently only 750. Workers also say there have been long-running problems with the electronic systems that are supposed to warn drivers of danger ahead. "Nothing works. Everything happens manually throughout the Athens-Thessaloniki network. Neither the indicators, nor the traffic lights, nor the electronic traffic control work," train drivers' association president Kostas Genidounias told ERT...