32 killed after two trains collide head-on in Greece, several injured

Athens: At least 32 people were killed after two trains collided head-on in Greece on Tuesday night, leaving 85 injured, reports news agency Reuters.

The crash took place outside the city of Larissa in the central Greece when an intercity passenger train coming from Athens, heading to northern city of Thessaloniki, and a cargo train came in the same track.

A fire broke out in many passenger carriages from the impact of the hit, burning many passengers who were rushed to hospitals.

The first four carriages of the passenger train got derailed in the crash alongside first two of them caught fire, and were ‘almost completely destroyed’, said Thessaly regional governor Konstantinos Agorastos.

Footages broadcasted SKAI TV showed plumes of smoke and broken windows of trains as well as debris on the railroad and rescuers were seen searching carriages for trapped passengers.

Meanwhile local media reported that there were about 350 passengers on the passenger train which departed Athens at about 7.30 local time.

Following the crash, around 250 passengers were evacuated safely to Thessaloniki on buses, according to the report.

Some passengers escaped from the wreckage on their own and one passenger broke open a window with his suitcase.

Another head-on collision of trains outside Larissa in 1972 killed 19 people.

Greece's ageing railway system is badly in need of modernizing, equipping itself with signaling and automatic controlling systems in many areas, according to Reuters.

In 2017 Greece sold railway operator TRAINOSE to Italy's Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane as part of a bailout programme.

Greece expects the money thus regenerated to invest in rail infrastructure in the coming years.