The Greek Transport Minister, Kostas Karamanlis, submitted his resignation on Wednesday, after the train collision that occurred in the European country.
“It is a basic show of respect for the memory of the people who died so unjustly,” he said in his resignation letter, quoted by the portal The world.
“It is a fact that we received the Greek railway in a state that is not suitable for the 21st century. In these 3.5 years, we have done everything possible to improve this reality. Unfortunately, these efforts were not enough to prevent such an accident. And this is very heavy for all of us and for me personally,” Karamanlis said, according to a report from the Greek public television ERT.
This, after it became known that the transport sector unions had warned that there were deficiencies in the national railway system.
“Nothing works right. Everything is manual in the Athens-Thessaloniki network. Neither the traffic lights nor the electronic traffic control work,” the president of the train drivers’ association, Kostas Genidunias, denounced on public television ERT.
Until now, it is known that the collision, between a passenger train and a cargo train in the north of the country, has already left a balance of 36 deathswhile the search for a survivor is being carried out.
Similarly, it is known that 60 people were injured, of which 25 are in serious condition, international media report.
On the other hand, the Greek Police reported that the station manager of the Greek city of Lárisa is in custody.
However, he has denied being responsible for the tragic accident.
According to the investigations – carried out by the Fire Department -, it was revealed that the temperature of the passenger train, inside, reached 1,300 degrees.
Around 150 firefighters and 40 ambulances moved to the place, as well as cranes and mechanics in charge of lifting the overturned wagons and cleaning the rubble.
About 200 passengers (out of an approximate total of 346) are known to have been evacuated by buses to Thessaloniki.
For its part – official media reports – the death toll is expected to increase.
