Anger, mourning in Greece as train crash death toll rises to 57

·

Greece is in mourning as the death toll from the train crash near Larissa at Tempi grew to 57 people on Thursday night, with 56 passengers still missing, according to the Hellenic Police.

Many of the victims were thought to be university students returning home after a long holiday weekend.

Rescue operations are still underway under difficult conditions, with the focus now being on the third carriage that is almost completely overturned. The search is expected to conclude on Friday.  

“It will be very difficult to find survivors, due to the temperatures that developed in the carriages,” 40-year-old rescuer, Constantinos Imamidis, told Reuters.

“This is the hardest thing, instead of saving lives we have to dig out bodies.”

Rescuers search for survivors. Photo: AMNA.

The high-speed passenger train with more than 350 people on board crashed head-on with a freight train near the city of Larissa late on Tuesday.

Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, rushed to the scene at Tempi and called a three-day period of official mourning, ordering flags to fly at half mast. He said it appeared the crash was “mainly due to a tragic human error.”

Greek police arrested a local stationmaster who was in charge of signalling over the deadly train crash, and Greece’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis announced his resignation.

‘This crime will not be forgotten’:

Thousands of Greeks took to the streets on Wednesday for a second day of protests as anger mounts over the loss of life from the train crash.

Braving torrential rain and thunder, demonstrators marched from the office headquarters of Hellenic Train in Athens to the Greek parliament, chanting “this crime will not be forgotten.”

Police used tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital Athens. Photo: AP / Petros Giannakouris.

Highlighting the growing sense of fury over the crash, protesters hurled rocks at the Athens rail company offices on Wednesday evening before being dispersed by volleys of teargas fired by riot police. Protests also broke out in Thessaloniki.

The protests came hours after the Greek government conceded that rail projects nationwide had been beset by “chronic public sector ills.”

In the first public admission of the problems plaguing the railway network, Greek officials said efforts to overhaul the system had failed and authorities would look into the causes of the accident and delays in implementing rail projects.

Source: Ekathimerini, AP News, The Guardian.

Advertisement

Share:

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH TGH

By subscribing you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Advertisement

Latest News

Earlwood’s Greek spirit centre stage as ‘Plateia’ Festival secures state funding

The City of Canterbury Bankstown will host the “Love Earlwood” festival thanks to the NSW Government’s Open Streets 2025-28 Program.

Greek Consul General honoured at Hellenic Club farewell event in Sydney

Sydney’s Greek community came together on Thursday for a dignified farewell dinner in honour of Greece’s Consul General, Ioannis Mallikourtis

Field of candidates announced for 2025 Greek Community of Melbourne Board election

Greek Community of Melbourne has officially called elections for a new Board of Directors, with members set to head to the polls on June 29.

Australia Cup 2025: Strong Greek heritage club presence as Final 32 locked in

The cast for the Hahn Australia Cup 2025 Round of 32 has been decided following the completion of the Preliminary Rounds.

Apostolakis and Trimis named on Young Matildas squad for upcoming training camp

CommBank Young Matildas Head Coach Alex Epakis has settled on a 32-player squad for a domestic training camp to be held in Sydney.

You May Also Like

Spathis Friendship Tours: How Giannis Spathis turned his love of travel into a profession

Greek migrant Giannis Spathis tells The Greek Herald how he turned his love of travelling around Australia into the Spathis Friendship Tours.

Pan Lemnian Organisation of Australia celebrates 40 years

The Pan Lemnian Organisation of Australia celebrated its 40th anniversary, uniting people of Lemnian descent from all around Australia.

Danny and Michael Philippou’s film to premiere at Sundance Film Festival

Talk To Me, the Australian-made film by Danny and Michael Philippou, will have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.