Sawt Falasteen - Train accident in Greece kills at least 26

A fire services spokesman confirmed that three carriages skipped the tracks just before midnight after the trains -- one for freight and the other carrying 350 passengers –- collided about halfway along the route between Athens and Thessaloniki.

"At least 26 people have been found dead so far," spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told a press conference, adding that efforts to rescue people still trapped were still ongoing.

"Eighty-five people were injured and transported to nearby hospitals."

Greek media are calling the crash the "worst train accident that Greece has ever known".

About 150 firefighters and 40 ambulances were mobilised for the response, according to the Greek emergency services. Cranes and mechanical personnel were also deployed to try to remove debris and right overturned vehicles.

"The majority of passengers have been taken to safety," Vathrakogiannis said.

"The operation to free trapped people is underway and is taking place in difficult conditions, due to the seriousness of the collision between the two trains," he added.

According to public television station ERT, one of the train cars caught fire after the collision and several people were trapped inside.

- 'Stained with blood' -

One passenger named Lazos told the newspaper Protothema that the experience had been "very shocking".

"I wasn't hurt, but I was stained with blood from other people who were injured near me," he said.

On the local media site Onlarissa, a young woman said through tears that the train "was stopped for a few minutes when we heard a deafening noise".

Another clearly shaken passenger told Skai television that "the windows suddenly exploded. People were screaming and were afraid."

"Fortunately, we were able to open the doors and escape fairly quickly. In other wagons, they did not manage to get out and one wagon even caught fire," he added.

An emergency government meeting was organised after the crash, and Greek health minister Thanos Plevris has gone to the scene while interior minister Takis Theodorikakos supervises the response from a crisis management centre.

According to Skai, the region's governor, Kostas Agorastos, announced that "more than 250 passengers were transferred to Thessaloniki by bus".

The two hospitals near Larissa have been requisitioned to accommodate the many injured, according to the fire services, while military hospitals in Thessaloniki and Athens are also "on alert" in case they are needed.

N.Awad--SF-PST