Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM

One of Greece's worst-ever obstruction disasters, which claimed astatine slightest 43 lives, was owed to "tragic quality error", the country's premier curate has said.

PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke aft visiting the tract of Tuesday night's head-on collision betwixt a rider work and a freight train.

The section stationmaster has been charged with manslaughter. The Greek transport curate has resigned.

Rescue teams are continuing to hunt for survivors.

The mishap happened conscionable earlier midnight connected Tuesday. The rider bid carrying immoderate 350 radical collided with a freight bid arsenic it emerged from a passageway aft leaving the municipality of Larissa.

It is inactive unclear wherefore the 2 services were moving connected the aforesaid track.

The stationmaster, who is successful complaint of signalling, denies wrongdoing and has blamed the mishap connected a imaginable method failure.

After visiting the site, Mr Mitsotakis said everything pointed to "a tragic quality error".

"Justice volition bash its job," helium said successful a televised address. "People volition beryllium held accountable, portion the authorities volition beryllium connected the broadside of the people."

Announcing his resignation, Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis stated: "When thing truthful tragic happens, it is intolerable to proceed and unreal it didn't happen."

Trade unions said collisions person aggregate factors and the clang had highlighted chronic deficiencies, including deficiency of staff, breached signals and outdated facilities.

The archetypal 4 carriages of the rider bid were derailed and the archetypal 2 caught occurrence and were "almost wholly destroyed", Thessaly determination politician Kostas Agorastos said.

The bid was travelling from Athens to Thessaloniki, which has a sizeable pupil population, and it is believed galore connected committee were students returning determination aft a vacation for Greek Orthodox lent.

Survivors person described the chaotic scenes aft the crash, with 1 shaken rider telling the BBC: "People were panicking and screaming."

Giannis Antonoglou, who escaped from the 5th compartment of the rider train, said the windows abruptly smashed and "we ended up being tilted 45 degrees arsenic if astir to tip".

Stergios Minenis, a 28-year-old rider who jumped to information from the wreckage, told Reuters quality agency: "The occurrence was immediate. As we were turning implicit we were being burned."

Some passengers said they were forced to interruption carriage windows with their bodies oregon luggage to flight the burning wreckage.

Larissa's politician said immoderate of those who died would lone beryllium identifiable done familial testing.

Relatives of missing passengers person provided DNA samples to assistance the place bodies, a infirmary successful Larissa said.