36 Die in Greece Train Crash

(new york times) ⸻ At least 36 people were killed when a passenger train and a freight train collided in northern Greece, with an impact so intense that cranes were being used to remove wreckage in the search for survivors. The cause of the crash, which happened just before midnight on Tuesday near the small town of Tempe, was not immediately clear. About 350 passengers were on the train as it traveled north from Athens to Thessaloniki, according to Hellenic Train. Most of the victims were young, and the Greek health minister, Thanos Plevris, said that it was not the right time to focus on the circumstances of the disaster. The priority now is to nurse the injured and support the families who have lost their loved ones. On Greek television, experts expressed their concerns about rail safety in the country, claiming that there were problems that had not been addressed for decades. Kostas Genidounias, president of the association of Greek train drivers, told state television that neither the signals nor the traffic control system worked. He and colleagues had frequently reported malfunctioning systems recently. Greece had already stood out in Europe for the lack of safety on its rail network, with an average of more than 15 deaths and 11 serious injuries per year. In 2019, 137 people died and 97 were seriously injured in railway accidents in Greece. The media network attributed the problems to unsafe level crossings, poor infrastructure and traffic management systems, and understaffed companies. Vasileios Vathrakoyiannis, a spokesman for the fire service, said four cranes were being used to rescue the two first carriages of the passenger train, which have overturned. Television footage showed red cranes looming over the twisted, charred wreckage, as police and rescue workers in fluorescent jackets surveyed the scene. Kostas Agorastos, governor of the Thessaly region, said that two of the carriages "basically don't exist anymore." The army was assisting with the rescue operation, and the Greek minister for civil protection, Christos Stylianides, was coordinating the state's response. Vassilis Polyzos, a local resident, told The Associated Press that he had seen people who appeared to be dazed and disoriented trying to flee from the trains as he arrived on the scene.