Transport minister resigns after collided trains kill 38 in Greece

Greek transport minister Kostas Karamanlis has resigned after a passenger train carrying 350 people and a freight train crashed in northern Greece Tuesday night, killing at least 38 people and injuring dozens of others.

The first four carriages of the passenger train were derailed, and the first two caught fire and were “almost completely destroyed”.
The local station master has been charged with manslaughter.
Karamanlis said in a statement, “When something so tragic happens, it is impossible to continue and pretend like it didn’t happen.
“This is called political responsibility.
“For that reason, I announce my resignation as Infrastructure and Transport minister.
“It is what I feel as a duty to do, as a mark of respect toward the memory of the people who died so unfairly, and taking the responsibility for the Greek state’s and Greek political system’s mistakes over the course of history.”
He added: “From the deepest of my heart, I express my sorrow and my support to the families of the victims.”
Some survivors have described the moment the trains collided as like an earthquake.
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz is among those offering their condolences following the train collision.
“We mourn with our Greek friends, and our thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones. We wish you great strength at this difficult time,” he wrote on Twitter.
Italy’s Prime Minister shared a similar message, saying, “The Italian government sends condolences to the families of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to all the injured.”
Turkey’s foreign ministry also offered its sympathies to the relatives of those killed as well as to the people and government of Greece in general.
“We have learned with sorrow that many people lost their lives and were injured last night as a result of a train crash in our neighbour Greece”, the ministry said in a statement.

It was one of the country’s worst rail accidents
Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an address to the nation that it appeared the accident was due to “tragic human error”
Rescuers are continuing to search for survivors at the scene near the city of Larissa.
“Everything shows that the drama was, sadly, mainly due to a tragic human error,” Mitsotakis said in a televised address.
It was learnt from the Greek fire service that of the 72 people admitted to hospital after the crash, 15 had been released.
Of the 57 people still being treated for their injuries, six remain in critical condition and are being treated in an intensive care unit, the fire service said.