Trains collide in Greece, at least 36 dead; 85 hurt

Transport minister Kostas Karamanlis resigns, saying he felt it was his ‘duty’ to step down

A head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train flattened carriages, killed at least 36 people and injured some 85, Greek officials said Wednesday. Transport minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned Wednesday, saying he felt it was his “duty” to step down “as a basic indication of respect for the memory of the people who died so unfairly.”

Before dawn the next day, rescuers searched through twisted, smoking wreckage for survivors. What appeared to be the third carriage lay atop the clumped remains of the first two.

Greek police say the stationmaster in the city of Larissa has been arrested following the nearby train crash that left at least 36 people dead.

A police statement identified the suspect only as a 59-year-old man. Another two people have been detained for questioning.

Multiple cars derailed and at least three burst into flames after the two trains ran into each other at high speed just before midnight Tuesday, near the town of Tempe in northern Greece. Many of the approximately 350 people aboard the passenger train were students returning from Greece’s raucous Carnival, officials said. This year was the first time the three-day festival, which precedes Lent, was celebrated in full since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

“This is a terrible tragedy that is hard to comprehend,” said Deputy Health Minister Mina Gaga. “I feel so sorry for the parents of these kids.”