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This is how two trains collided head-on in Greece

A visual description of the fatal crash between a passenger train and a freight train that were inexplicably running along the same track

Greek train crash
Workers supported by a crane try to remove debris from the rail lines after a collision in northern Greece.Vaggelis Kousioras (AP)

Thessaloniki

Tempi

Crash site

Larissa

GREECE

Athens

100 km

A passenger train traveling from Athens to Thessaloniki, with 346 passengers and 10 crew on board, collided head-on with a freight train shortly before midnight. At least 43 people have been killed and dozens injured.

Thessaloniki

Tempi

Athens

GREECE

E75

Freight train

GRECIA

Passenger

train

The accident took place around 11.30pm as the passenger train was emerging from a tunnel. Both trains were running in opposite directions on the same track

Thessaloniki

Tempi

Crash site

Larissa

GREECE

Athens

100 km

A passenger train traveling from Athens to Thessaloniki, with 346 passengers and 10 crew on board, collided head-on with a freight train shortly before midnight. At least 43 people have been killed and dozens injured.

Tempi

Thessaloniki

Athens

E75

Lorem ipsum

Freight train

GREECE

Passenger

train

The accident took place around 11.30pm as the passenger train was emerging from a tunnel. Both trains were running in opposite directions on the same track

Thessaloniki

Tempi

Crash site

Larissa

GREECE

Athens

100 km

A passenger train traveling from Athens to Thessaloniki, with 346 passengers and 10 crew on board, collided head-on with a freight train shortly before midnight. At least 43 people have been killed and dozens injured.

Tempi

Thessaloniki

Itea

Athens

E75

Freight train

The accident took place around 11.30pm as the passenger train was emerging from a tunnel. Both trains were running in opposite directions on the same track

GREECE

Passenger

train

The passenger train was covering the route between Athens and Thessaloniki, while the freight train was covering the route between Thessaloniki and Larissa. According to preliminary reports, the passenger convoy shifted onto the wrong track, where the freight train was running, resulting in the head-on collision between the two.

Itea

Tempi

Freight train

E75

Remains of

both trains

It is still unclear why both trains were running on the same track

Passenger

train

The passenger train left the capital at around 7:22pm (local time) for Thessaloniki. The accident took place at around 11.30pm between the stations of Larissa and Katerini. Many of the 346 passengers on board were young students returning to Thessaloniki after celebrating the Greek Orthodox tradition of Clean Monday.

Athens

7.22 pm

Passenger train's

schedule

Accident

11.30 pm

(approximately)

Larissa

Katerini

Thessaloniki

Source: Hellenic Train (tickets.trainose.gr)

Itea

Tempi

Freight

train

E75

Remains of

both trains

It is still unclear why both trains were running on the same track

Passenger

train

The passenger train left the capital at around 7:22pm (local time) for Thessaloniki. The accident took place at around 11.30pm between the stations of Larissa and Katerini. Many of the 346 passengers on board were young students returning to Thessaloniki after celebrating the Greek Orthodox tradition of Clean Monday.

Accident

11.30 pm

(approximately)

Athens

Larissa

Katerini

Thessaloniki

7.22 pm

Passenger train's schedule

Source: Hellenic Train (tickets.trainose.gr)

Tempi

Itea

Freight train

Remains of

both trains

It is still unclear why both trains were running on the same track

Passenger

train

The passenger train left the capital at around 7:22pm (local time) for Thessaloniki. The accident took place at around 11.30pm between the stations of Larissa and Katerini. Many of the 346 passengers on board were young students returning to Thessaloniki after celebrating the Greek Orthodox tradition of Clean Monday.

Accident

11.30 pm

(approximately)

Athens

Larissa

Katerini

Thessaloniki

7.22 pm

Passenger train's schedule

Source: Hellenic Train (tickets.trainose.gr)

The stretch of track where the crash took place had double lanes and automatic controls, but switching and signaling were still being done manually. Danger alert systems have not worked for years.

The Larissa station master, a 59-year-old man, has been arrested after giving a statement. According to the Reuters agency, the detainee has denied any negligence and has blamed the accident on a possible technical failure.

Three cars almost “completely destroyed”

Freight train

Thessaloniki-Larissa

Double track and automatic controls that were not working

Direction

of travel

Shipment of metallurgical material

The first car was shattered and the others sustained damage

Engine

Head-on

collision

Passenger

train

11:30 pm

Athens-Thessaloniki

Direction

of travel

Engine

Three cars were destroyed and two caught fire

Passengers

Café car

Tunnel

Freight train

Double track and automatic controls that were not working

Thessaloniki-Larissa

Direction of travel

Shipment of

metallurgical

material

The first car was shattered and the others sustained damage

Engine

Head-on collision

11:30 pm

Passenger train

Athens-Thessaloniki

Engine

Direction of travel

Passengers

Three cars were destroyed and two caught fire

Café car

Tunnel

Freight train

Double track and automatic controls that were not working

Thessaloniki-Larissa

Direction of travel

Shipment of

metallurgical

material

The first car was shattered and the others sustained damage

Engine

Head-on collision

11:30 pm

Passenger train

Athens-Thessaloniki

Engine

Direction of travel

Passengers

Three cars were destroyed and two caught fire

Café car

Tunnel

The first three passenger cars derailed. The first two, which caught fire, were “almost completely destroyed” according to Thessaly regional governor Konstantinos Agorastos. The mayor of Tempi, Giorgos Manoli, said that temperatures of 1,200 to 1,500 degrees Celsius were reached inside the burned cars, according to Europa Press.

Although the details are still unclear, many of the victims appear to be students who were gathered in the first two cars and suffered the full force of the impact. The second car served as the train’s canteen, according to The Guardian.

It is the most serious railway accident in Europe since 2013, when 79 people died in the vicinity of Santiago de Compostela, in northern Spain when a train went off the tracks after entering a bend at an excessive speed.

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