At least 38 killed as trains collide in Greece

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday that the fatal train collision, which left dozens dead and wounded, was due “to tragic human error.”

In a televised address following his return from the crash site near the city of Larissa earlier today, Mitsotakis said that the decision of the Greek Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis to resign was honorable.

“His stance honors him, as everything shows that the drama is unfortunately due to mainly tragic human error,” Mitsotakis said, adding that the heads of Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) and its subsidiary ERGOSE have also submitted their resignations.

The Greek prime minister said that during his visit at the hospital in Larissa, where many of the injured are being treated, he met relatives of the dead and the missing. “They asked me 'why.' And they told me 'never again.' We owe them an honest answer," he said.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis vowed earlier Wednesday to find out what caused a train collision near the city of Larissa that left at least 36 people dead and dozens injured. 

The Greek prime minister said that his thoughts are “first and foremost with the relatives of the victims," and added that the country's duty is to treat the injured and identify the dead.

What we know: According to information from rail company, Hellenic Train, 342 passengers and 10 staff members were aboard the passenger train and two staff members were aboard the freight train when they collided just before midnight, about four hours north of Athens.

Greek authorities have arrested the station manager of a train station in the city of Larissa on Wednesday in connection with the train collision that left at least 36 people dead, Greek police told CNN on Wednesday.

A 59-year-old man has been arrested by the Larissa police department as part of the preliminary investigation carried out regarding the collision between a passenger train and a freight train, Greek police spokeswoman Constantia Dimoglidou said on Wednesday.

The Larissa police department told CNN that the man was arrested earlier on Wednesday and is being held in Larissa. He is expected to appear before a prosecutor.

Overhead photos and images captured from the ground show the mangled wreckage of two trains that collided near Larissa, Greece, on Tuesday night. 

At least 36 people were killed when a train carrying more than 350 collided with a freight train. At least 66 people were being treated for their injuries in hospitals.

The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has visited the site of the deadly crash.

Greek transport minister Kostas Karamanlis has announced his resignation following a fatal train collision that occurred in Greece Tuesday, state-owned public broadcaster ERT reports.

The crash, which killed at least 36 people, happened four hours north of Athens.

Greece’s railway system is “not up to 21st century standards,” Karamanlis said Wednesday in his resignation speech.

“It is a fact that we received the Greek railway system in a state that is not up to 21st century standards,” he said, adding that in the last three-and-a-half years the government had “made every effort to improve this reality,” he said.

“Unfortunately, our efforts have not been sufficient to prevent such a bad incident. And this is very heavy for all of us and me personally,” he added. 

At least 36 people were killed and dozens injured when a passenger train carrying more than 350 people collided with a freight train in Greece, according to the Greek Fire Service.

It occurred in Tempi, located in central Greece, near the city of Larissa, officials said.

Here's a look at where the crash happened:

Passengers on the Greek train that crashed into a freight train in northern Greece on Tuesday night have described "nightmarish seconds" as the carriage overturned.

“We heard a big bang, (it was) 10 nightmarish seconds, we were turning over in the wagon until we fell on our sides, and until the commotion stopped, then there was panic, cables (everywhere) fire, the fire was immediate, as we were turning over we were being burned, fire was right and left,” Stergios Minenis, 28, told Reuters news agency.

"There was panic, for 10, 15 seconds it was chaos, tumbling over, fires, cables hanging, broken windows, people screaming, people trapped, it was two metres high from where we jumped to leave and beneath there were broken iron debris, but what could we do?”

Another passenger, pointing at Minenis, said: "We came down, a fire had erupted next to us, this man here he saw a hole, so we managed to get out from where we were."

Most of the passengers involved in a head-on collision between two trains in central Greece Tuesday were young, the head of the intensive care unit (ICU) at a nearby hospital told state-owned public broadcaster ERT Wednesday.

“Most of the people on board were young,” Apostolos Komnos, Head of ICU at Larissa General Hospital, where those with injuries are being treated, told the broadcaster. 

The death toll from the train collision now stands at 36, the Greek Fire Service said.

Rescuers are in the process of identifying the dead, Greek Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Varthakogiannis said in an updated briefing. About 150 firefighters and first responders are working on site. 

Greece has declared a three-day mourning period with flag at half-mast starting Wednesday following the deadly train crash government officials told CNN.

“I understand he (Prime Minister) is very close to the scene and is expected to speak,” Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ team told CNN.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou has also announced that she is cutting short a visit to Moldova to return to Greece.