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

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

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

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

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

At the least 36 persons are lifeless 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 keeping with native authorities.

Photographs and video of the scene from Wednesday morning confirmed rescuers nonetheless maneuvering by way of twisted wreckage, trying to find survivors.

By noon, with hope fading, investigators had begun turning to a query that is turn into a well-recognized chorus in U.S. media following a significant practice derailment in Ohio earlier final month: What prompted this crash?

This is a rundown of what we all know.

How did the trains collide?

In response to the nationwide 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 Related Press reported that a lot of these passengers had been college students getting back from Carnival, a three-day competition that precedes the non secular season of Lent. The freight practice was doubtless carrying development materials, similar to heavy metal plates, in keeping with Greece’s public media company, ERT.

Although the trains seemed to be touring on a double-track line, each trains seemed 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 beneath a freeway within the municipality of Tempe.

Native media stories citing survivors counsel that the primary two carriages of the passenger practice had been despatched flying into the air, twisting backward and catching fireplace, leaving them fully disintegrated by morning.

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

What’s the demise toll?

As of Wednesday morning, rescue employees had been nonetheless sorting by way of the mass of metallic, trying to find indicators of life.

Greater than 150 firefighters and paramedics are on the scene, mentioned Greek Fireplace Service spokesperson Vassilis Varthakogiannis in a media briefing. The crews are utilizing cranes and development tools to assist transfer among 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 mentioned.

Citing a number of authorities sources, ERT stories that greater than 66 folks had been hospitalized, and a minimum of six had been nonetheless in intensive care as of Wednesday. A complete of 130 had been injured.

The ERT additionally reported that the present demise toll stands at 36 however is anticipated to rise as extra victims are recognized, a activity that is been difficult 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 nationwide mourning within the nation.

What do we all know in regards to 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 Pictures

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Sakis Mitrolidis/AFP by way of Getty Pictures

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 Pictures

In response to a press release shared in native media, Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned on Wednesday after visiting the crash scene, saying he felt it was his “obligation” to step down “as an indication of respect for the reminiscence of the individuals who died so unjustly.”

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

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis echoed that assertion on Wednesday, saying in a tweet that “we are going to discover out the causes of this tragedy and do the whole lot in our energy to verify it by no means occurs once more.”

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

Getting a full image of what occurred might take a while, authorities say. Greek Railroad Staff Union President Yannis Nitsas mentioned that the 2 drivers of the freight practice had been among the many 9 rail staff killed within the crash, stories the Related Press.

Hellenic Prepare, the road’s operator, canceled dozens of its scheduled routes for Wednesday, saying in a press release that its “major and unique concern” for the second is to finish the evacuation and rescue course of.

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

“Our carriage did not derail, however the ones in entrance did and had been smashed,” he mentioned, in keeping 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, advised NPR’s Up First that the collision is more likely to spark a debate round rail security. It could mirror the one happening within the U.S. following the aftermath of an Ohio practice derailment that despatched hazardous supplies spilling into the encompassing residential space.

An preliminary report from the Nationwide Transportation Security Board stopped in need of declaring a conclusive reason for the Ohio derailment, however mentioned a wheel bearing overheated, elevating questions of whether or not the practice’s security sensors and procedures had been adequate.

Gatopoulos mentioned Greece’s rail system is “nearly sleepy” and customarily seen as “fairly secure,” given it is largely restricted to strains between main cities.

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

The collision is already elevating questions on whether or not strains, techniques and signaling tools had been correctly inspected in the course of the sale, Gatopoulos mentioned.