At least 38 people have been killed after two trains collided in Greece Tuesday night, the Greek Fire Service said Wednesday.
Greek Fire Service spokesperson Vassilis Varthakogiannis said that at least 38 people were killed and that of the 72 injured people, 57 remained in hospitals. Six of them are in intensive care.
He added that search and rescue operations will continue through the night. At least 72 firefighters with 24 vehicles are on the scene.
DNA samples are being used to identify the dead, Greek police spokesperson Constantia Dimoglidou said at the briefing.
What we know so far about the crash: Earlier on Wednesday, a station manager of a train station in the city of Larissa was arrested in connection to the collision.
The 59-year-old man was charged with mass deaths through negligence and causing grievous bodily harm through negligence, the Larissa police department said.
Meanwhile, in central Athens clashes erupted between protesters and police officers outside the headquarters of Greek rail company, Hellenic Train, following calls for demonstrations.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday that the fatal train collision, which left dozens dead and wounded, was due “to tragic human error.”
In a televised address following his return from the crash site near the city of Larissa earlier today, Mitsotakis said that the decision of the Greek Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis to resign was honorable.
“His stance honors him, as everything shows that the drama is unfortunately due to mainly tragic human error,” Mitsotakis said, adding that the heads of Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) and its subsidiary ERGOSE have also submitted their resignations.
The Greek prime minister said that during his visit at the hospital in Larissa, where many of the injured are being treated, he met relatives of the dead and the missing. “They asked me ‘why.’ And they told me ‘never again.’ We owe them an honest answer,” he said.
Greek authorities have arrested the station manager of a train station in the city of Larissa on Wednesday in connection with the train collision that left at least 36 people dead, Greek police told CNN on Wednesday.
A 59-year-old man has been arrested by the Larissa police department as part of the preliminary investigation carried out regarding the collision between a passenger train and a freight train, Greek police spokeswoman Constantia Dimoglidou said on Wednesday.
The Larissa police department told CNN that the man was arrested earlier on Wednesday and is being held in Larissa. He is expected to appear before a prosecutor.
