Survivors of train crash in Greece share their impressions
2023.03.01 06:06
Survivors of train crash in Greece share their impressions
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – For hundreds of Greeks who were involved in a fatal train collision on Tuesday night, it only took one loud bang and a few seconds to turn a long holiday weekend into a nightmare.
At least 36 people were killed in Tuesday’s crash 220 miles north of Athens when a high-speed passenger train headed for the northern city of Thessaloniki careered into a freight train coming from the opposite direction, flew off the track, and caught fire.
Witnesses reported experiencing a loud shudder, followed by a bang and chaos.
The victims were discovered up to 40 meters away from the wreckage and others were trapped in blazing carriages, according to first responders.
It was thought that many of the victims were college students.
A passenger on the fifth carriage stated, “People were screaming and windows were being smashed.” The passenger told Skai TV as he took cover under a nearby bridge, his face illuminated by the raging fire in the background. “One of the windows caved in from the impact of the iron from the other train,” the passenger said.
The train had approximately 350 passengers, and according to passengers, it was two-thirds full, with many young people.
At a Thessaloniki train station, one woman said, “My child is not picking up the phone.” A different woman rushed to give her daughter a hug as she got off a bus with the survivors. The daughter responded, “Mum, don’t, I’m hurt.”
After a long holiday weekend to celebrate the beginning of the Greek Orthodox lent, many passengers would have been heading back to their homes. There are a lot of students in Thessaloniki.
Stergios Minenis, a passenger who is 28 years old, stated, “There was panic, cables (everywhere) fire, the fire was immediate, as we were turning over we were being burned, fire was right and left.”
A second passenger in one of the final carriages claimed to have witnessed the train flip over and shake.
“I was able to get out and ran to the front of the train; half of it was hanging over the burning cliff and was bent at 90 degrees. “From where I was standing, five people were injured,” he stated.
The accident site, the Tempi valley, is well-known for accidents. There, a bus crash in 2003 resulted in the deaths of 23 schoolchildren.
While cranes slowly removed pieces of the train, rescue workers sifted through a smoldering, mangled mass of steel as dawn broke.
Hours later, they were still finding victims. One crew was seen on state television transporting what appeared to be a victim, covered in a white sheet, to an ambulance.
