The Greek Transport Minister resigns after the train collision, which leaves at least 40 dead
¿ostas Ajileas Karamanlís has stressed that, in 2019, when he was assigned to head the Transport portfolio, he assumed responsibility for a railway sector “in a situation that does not correspond to the 21st century”.
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Euskaraz irakurri
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Greek emergency services work at the accident site. Photo: EFE
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Euskaraz irakurri: Greziako Garraio ministerak resigns eman du, gutxienez 40 hildako utzi dituen train istripuaren ostean
The Greek Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Ostas Ajileas Karamanlíshas announced his resignation this Wednesday due to the serious collision of two trains that occurred last night in central Greece and has left at least 40 dead and dozens injured.
“I resign from my position as Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation. I feel it is my duty to do so as a minimum show of respect for the memory of the people who died so unjustly,” Karamanlis said in a message posted on his Twitter account.
The conservative minister has stressed that, in 2019, when he was assigned to head the Transport portfolio, he assumed responsibility for a railway sector “in a situation that does not correspond to the 21st century.”
“In these three and a half years we have done everything possible to improve this reality,” he points out, although he acknowledges that “unfortunately, these efforts were not enough to prevent such an accident.”
The head of the Larissa railway station in northern Greece has been arrested while his possible responsibility in the frontal collision of the trains is determined.
After the accident, the authorities had proceeded to question some of the officials involved in train traffic, in an attempt to clarify the reasons why the two trains, which circulated for a time on the same track, collided head-on.
Around midnight, a freight train and a passenger train from the Hellenic Train company collided. According to preliminary reports, the passenger train – in which 350 people were on board and which made the route Thessaloniki (north) to Larisa (centre) – had diverted to a wrong lane, where the commercial train was circulating. The collision caused the derailment of three of the wagons of the passenger train and a fire.
“Wagon one and two do not exist. Due to the seriousness of the collision, they were expelled,” the regional governor of Thessaly, Kostas Agorastos, told ERT, detailing that among the injured there are people with burns and mutilations.
For his part, the mayor of Temp2, Giorgos Manoli, has assured that in the first three wagons they have developed temperatures from 1,200 to 1500 ºC.
Source: Eitb

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