‘ERROR’ FIREBALL
Greece train disaster caught in horror inferno footage as ‘human error’ blamed and 46 killed in ‘worst ever’ rail crash
CHILLING CCTV footage captured the horror moment two trains collided sparking a huge fireball in a disaster that has plunged Greece into mourning.
In wake of the tragedy in Tempe, the cause of the country's deadliest rail crash was blamed on a "human error," as the death toll rose to 46.
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A shocking video shows a massive fireball exploding in the night sky as a 1,300C blaze began to erupt while passengers were trapped in the wreckage.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared three days of national mourning in memory of the victims and said in a televised address: "Everything shows that the drama was, sadly, mainly due to a tragic human error."
He described the tragedy as a "terrible train accident without precedent" in Greece which would be "fully" investigated.
Rescuers continued their desperate search for survivors in the wreckage overnight as the death toll climbed to 46.
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Rescuer Nikos Zygouris said: "It's unlikely there will be survivors, but hope dies last."
Larisa's chief coroner, Roubini Leondari, said 43 bodies had been brought to her for examination and would require DNA identification as they were largely disfigured.
The tragedy struck late on Tuesday when two trains collided outside the city of Larisa.
The fire department said 57 people were hospitalised with injuries with six of them being in intensive care.
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Police arrested the station master at Larisa who was in charge of the rail traffic on that stretch of the tracks.
He was charged with causing mass deaths and grievous bodily harm through negligence, a police official said.
He is expected to appear before the prosecutor today.
The 59-year-old admitted his fault but blamed a technical failure.
A railway union boss said automatic signals at the spot were not working.
The union announced a 24-hour strike for today while Athens metro workers also called a 24-hour strike saying they face similar problems as railway employees.
Protests erupted in Athens late on Wednesday following the tragedy.
Demonstrators clashed with riot police outside the offices of Hellenic Train
The country's transport minister Kostas Karamanlis has resigned in wake of the incident, saying he felt it was his duty and a "sign of respect" to the victims.
The passenger train travelling from Athens to Thessaloniki was carrying 350 passengers, most of them university students returning from Carnival celebrations.
It had just left Larisa in central Greece when it ploughed head-on into a goods train heading in the opposite direction just before midnight.
The force of the smash is understood to have been so powerful that it "pulverised" the front cars of both trains.
At least three carriages burst into flames, while the wreckages snaked off the train tracks and onto adjacent fields.
Panicking passengers kicked through windows to escape the horror unfolding, as temperatures quickly reached 1,300C as the inferno engulfed the carriages.
Others were thrown up to 130ft out of their seats on impact.
Mangled carriages with broken windows lay twisted beside the tracks as thick plumes of smoke rose into the sky.
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Most of the dead were young people in their 20s, said Apostolos Komnos, head of the local hospital emergency unit.
Volunteer fireman Vassilis Iliopoulos said some victims were being identified from body parts.
Police have collected 17 biological samples from remains and 23 from relatives desperately trying to locate their loved ones.
Survivor Stergios Minenis, 28, told how he jumped to safety as the flames continued to grow.
He said: "We heard a big bang, (it was) ten nightmarish seconds.
"There was panic... the fire was immediate, as we were turning over we were being burned, fire was right and left.
"Windows were being smashed and people were screaming."
Another passenger who managed to escape from the fifth carriage recalled how one window "caved in from the impact of iron from the other train".
Pavlos Aslanidis, whose son is missing along with a friend, told reporters "it was the train of terror".
Another passenger told Skai TV: "There was panic in the carriage, people were screaming," while another one described the crash as "an earthquake".
Shocking footage from the scene showed the glow of the fire spreading across the wreckage in the darkness overnight.
'A TERRIBLE NIGHT'
Witnesses described plumes of black smoke as emergency workers desperately tried to reach those on board.
One passenger said he managed to escape after breaking the train window with his suitcase.
The Regional Governor of Thessaly told : "Wagons 1 and 2 do not exist. Due to the severity of the collision, they were ejected."
About 250 passengers were evacuated safely to Thessaloniki on buses.
Firefighters battled to douse the blaze in the early hours of Wednesday morning while searching for survivors.
The armed forces were also called in to assist in the rescue effort, as emergency workers from nearby towns rallied to free those still stuck in the wreckage.
“The evacuation process is ongoing and is being carried out under very difficult conditions due to the severity of the collision between the two trains,” Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Varthakoyiannis said.
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Some 150 firefighters rushed to the scene as 30 ambulances ferried multiple casualties to nearby hospitals.
“It was a very powerful collision. This is a terrible night... It’s hard to describe the scene,” Kostas Agorastos, the regional governor of the central Thessaly area, told state-run television.
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