Emergency crews proceed to look by way of the wreckage after a practice accident within the Tempe Valley close to Larissa, Greece on Tuesday night. At least 32 folks had been killed.

Vasilis Ververidis/Eurokinissi/motionteam/AFP by way of Getty Images

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Vasilis Ververidis/Eurokinissi/motionteam/AFP by way of Getty Images

Emergency crews proceed to look by way of the wreckage after a practice accident within the Tempe Valley close to Larissa, Greece on Tuesday night. At least 32 folks had been killed.

Vasilis Ververidis/Eurokinissi/motionteam/AFP by way of Getty Images

At least 36 persons are useless and 66 have been hospitalized after a passenger practice and a freight practice collided on Tuesday night time (native time) close to town of Larissa in Greece, in line with native authorities.

Photos and video of the scene from Wednesday morning confirmed rescuers nonetheless maneuvering by way of twisted wreckage, looking for survivors.

By noon, with hope fading, investigators had begun turning to a query that is change into a well-known chorus in U.S. media following a major train derailment in Ohio earlier last month: What brought on this crash?

Here’s a rundown of what we all know.

How did the trains collide?

According to the national rail operator, the passenger practice was carrying roughly 350 folks on the time of the collision, touring at excessive velocity from Athens to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest metropolis.

The Associated Press reported that a lot of these passengers had been college students coming back from Carnival, a three-day competition that precedes the non secular season of Lent. The freight practice was seemingly carrying building materials, similar to heavy metal plates, according to Greece’s public media agency, ERT.

Though the trains gave the impression to be touring on a double-track line, each trains gave the impression to be transferring on the identical monitor, heading in direction of one another. The trains collided, head-on, simply earlier than midnight native time, because the passenger practice was exiting a tunnel below a freeway within the municipality of Tempe.

Local media reports citing survivors suggest that the primary two carriages of the passenger practice had been despatched flying into the air, twisting backward and catching fireplace, leaving them utterly disintegrated by morning.

The remaining line of carriages buckled and slid off the tracks, sending dozens of dazed folks escaping into the darkish.

What is the dying toll?

As of Wednesday morning, rescue staff had been nonetheless sorting by way of the mass of steel, looking for indicators of life.

More than 150 firefighters and paramedics are on the scene, said Greek Fire Service spokesperson Vassilis Varthakogiannis in a media briefing. The crews are utilizing cranes and building gear to assist transfer a few of the heaviest chunks of metal.

Most survivors of the crash had been bused to Thessaloniki, the place police took names to trace the lacking, Varthakogiannis stated.

Citing several government sources, ERT studies that greater than 66 folks had been hospitalized, and at the very least six had been nonetheless in intensive care as of Wednesday. A complete of 130 had been injured.

The ERT additionally reported that the present dying toll stands at 36 however is predicted to rise as extra victims are recognized, a job that is been sophisticated as a result of temperatures exceeded 2,300 levels Fahrenheit when fires broke out within the first three carriages.

Greece’s prime minister has declared three days of national mourning within the nation.

What do we all know concerning the trigger?

Greek police and emergency crews search wreckage Wednesday after the practice derailment. Authorities say the primary two passenger carriages practically disintegrated after catching fireplace and reaching a temperature of practically 2,300 levels Fahrenheit.

Sakis Mitrolidis/AFP by way of Getty Images

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Sakis Mitrolidis/AFP by way of Getty Images

Greek police and emergency crews search wreckage Wednesday after the practice derailment. Authorities say the primary two passenger carriages practically disintegrated after catching fireplace and reaching a temperature of practically 2,300 levels Fahrenheit.

Sakis Mitrolidis/AFP by way of Getty Images

According to a statement shared in local media, Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned on Wednesday after visiting the crash scene, saying he felt it was his “duty” to step down “as a sign of respect for the memory of the people who died so unjustly.”

Earlier within the day, he pledged the causes of the crash could be investigated with full transparency and diligence.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis echoed that assertion on Wednesday, saying in a tweet that “we will find out the causes of this tragedy and do everything in our power to make sure it never happens again.”

The BBC reports that the station master from town of Larissa was arrested and charged with manslaughter by negligence. The 59-year-old Hellenic Train worker denied any wrongdoing, saying the accident could have been a technical failure.

Getting a full image of what occurred could take a while, authorities say. Greek Railroad Workers Union President Yannis Nitsas stated that the 2 drivers of the freight practice had been among the many 9 rail staff killed within the crash, reports the Associated Press.

Hellenic Train, the road’s operator, canceled dozens of its scheduled routes for Wednesday, saying in an announcement that its “primary and exclusive concern” for the second is to finish the evacuation and rescue course of.

A teenage survivor instructed a number of reporters that he was using within the fourth carriage when he felt a powerful braking and noticed sparks. Then the whole lot out of the blue stopped.

“Our carriage didn’t derail, but the ones in front did and were smashed,” he stated, in line with an AP account of the interview.

Are there parallels with the U.S. debate round rail security?

Derek Gatopoulos, an AP reporter primarily based in Athens, told NPR’s Up First that the collision is likely to spark a debate round rail security. It could mirror the one happening within the U.S. following the aftermath of an Ohio train derailment that sent hazardous materials spilling into the surrounding residential area.

An initial report from the National Transportation Safety Board stopped in need of declaring a conclusive explanation for the Ohio derailment, however stated a wheel bearing overheated, elevating questions of whether or not the practice’s security sensors and procedures had been enough.

Gatopoulos stated Greece’s rail system is “almost sleepy” and usually seen as “quite safe,” given it is largely restricted to traces between main cities.

As a part of Greece’s international bailout amidst an financial disaster, Greece privatized its rail system in 2017, promoting its traces to the Italian state railway group, Ferrovie dello Stato.

The collision is already elevating questions on whether or not traces, programs and signaling gear had been correctly inspected through the sale, Gatopoulos stated.