At least 40 people are understood to have died and at least 86 have been left injured after a horrific train collision in Greece, the Mirror reports. The crash took place just before midnight yesterday evening, near the town of Tempi, when the intercity passenger service from Athens to Thessaloniki smashed into a freight train.
Rail operator Hellenic Trains said 350 people were on board and efforts to rescue those trapped at the scene have continued overnight under very difficult conditions. Photographs from what's been described as the nation's worst ever rail disaster show the train derailed and laying on its side, while witnesses spoke of a fierce fire breaking out on one of the carriages almost immediately after impact.
Initial reports suggest the two trains may have been travelling along the same track at fast speed with the impact of the crash understood to have been so strong that the front carriages of each train were almost completely pulverised. A huge emergency response continued late into the night as cranes and rescuers sporting headlamps were seen pulling away large chunks of destroyed metal from the wreckage as they searched for survivors.
