Greece has declared three days of national mourning after a high-speed passenger train collided with a freight train, killing at least 43 people and injuring dozens more. It's the country's deadliest rail crash ever.
Why did a high-speed passenger train carrying hundreds of people collide with an oncoming freight train?
What caused the crash?
"Everything in this tragedy points, unfortunately, mainly to human error," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a televised address on Wednesday.
Authorities are working to establish how the train collided with another carrying shipping containers and why they were travelling on the same track "for many kilometres".
It's believed the freight train was travelling at speeds of up to 160 kilometres per hour and the passenger train at 140kph.
The trains collided, head-on, near the town of Larissa, some 321km north of Athens.
Earlier, the passenger train had departed from the Greek capital, Athens, and was headed to the northern city of Thessaloniki.
What do we know about victims?
The passenger train was carrying 342 travellers and 10 crew. There were two crew on the freight train.
Officials said at least 43 people were killed, however, this number is expected to rise.
Authorities said high temperatures from the resulting fire in the first carriage made it hard to identify those trapped inside, or to determine how many had died.
They said 66 people were taken to hospital, with six of those to intensive care.
Many of the victims are thought to be university students, returning home after a long holiday weekend.
Eight rail employees are among the dead, including the two drivers of the freight train and the two drivers of the passenger train.
Mr Mitsotakis described the crash as "an unthinkable tragedy".
"Our thoughts today are with the relatives of the victims," the Greek prime minister said.
Station master arrested, transport minister resigns
The local station master, in charge of signalling, has been charged with causing mass deaths through negligence and causing grievous bodily harm through negligence, a police official said.
However, the 59-year-old man denied any responsibility, saying the accident was due to a possible technical failure.
The country's transport minister has also resigned.
Kostas Karamanlis said he was stepping down “as a basic indication of respect for the memory of the people who died so unfairly", and was taking responsibility for the state's "long-standing failures" to fix a railway system not fit for the 21st century.
What have survivors of the crash said?
Passengers described a "nightmarish" crash.
"There was panic … The fire was immediate," Stergios Minenis, a 28-year-old who jumped to safety, said.
"As we were turning over we were being burned, fire was right and left," he said.
Some kicked through windows to escape the inferno. Others were flung up to 40 metres on impact.
More than 200 people who were unharmed or suffered only minor injuries were taken by bus to Thessaloniki, 130km to the north. Police took their names as they arrived to track anyone who may be missing.
Railway workers say they would strike
In Athens, around 1,000 people protested outside the offices of Hellenic Train, a branch of the rail network, where some hurled stones at windows.
"Pain has turned into anger for the dozens of dead and wounded colleagues and fellow citizens," the workers' union said in a statement announcing the strike.
"The disrespect shown over the years by governments to the Greek railways led to the tragic result."
Greece has declared three days of national mourning.
Reuters/AP
