The first image he saw when he arrived at the scene of the tragedy in Tempi was described by Minister of Health Thanos Pleuris, while he indicated that he was shocked by the concern and efforts of parents to find their children.

“I saw bodies being carried out and parents looking for their children… There was no one from the company side who ran the hospitals to help with the lists,” he said, adding: “The forensic brought together 57 dead. We chose the hospital where the dead go, so that relatives would not be taken to hospitals.

The minister explained that the number of the dead is not added to the number of missing persons, since when the identity of the deceased is established, he is excluded from the list of missing persons.

48 wounded

“We didn’t have the names of the dead. We had a list of people wanted by our own people. We have six levels of psychologists to inform relatives. Once the identification is done, the receipt will also be made through the funeral homes,” Mr. Plyuris noted, adding that “as the Ministry of Health, we have not received assistance from the company. Everything was done by EKAV rescuers, the victims were registered, there was no help from the company. Not a single company representative came to the hospitals to help us.

The minister said that 48 victims are currently being treated in hospitals, six of them are in intensive care.

“There were no problems in the hospitals. General Larisa opened immediately. In the first hour, 40 EKAV vehicles arrived. The hospital, which was not on duty, opened and received people from the first half hour. We had enough beds in the intensive care unit, we had Burns on standby in Athens, two in Thessaloniki and Katerini on duty,” said Mr Pleurys.

He also described the moment when he was informed of the tragic incident.

“Initially, we were told that there was a crash. After a very short time, the president of EKAV took me and said that this was not a derailment. An ambulance arrived at the scene and said that everything was much more serious. Right after that, I informed the prime minister and all the ministries were automatically informed. I arrived at the place around 4:30. The picture was bleak. The rescuer informed me that below, where there was a shapeless mass, there were two or three more wagons.

Then we went to the university, where the relatives arrived, and then we decided to collect all the bodies in one place so that the relatives would not have to go from hospital to hospital, and at the same time made a list of the victims.

We place relatives in the assembly hall, read them a list of the wounded, so that the relatives know whether their people are alive.

It’s shocking because I’ve seen parents looking for children. Everyone was waiting for what comes from the wounded. As time went on, psychiatrists tried to explain to them that since they were not contacted, they were not on the list of victims, things were not going well, ”he described, emphasizing that relatives wanted to know at what point his train was theirs, because there was information that the front carriages are smashed. “The company was not there, and we could not provide this information,” he stressed.

DNA identification is a complex process

In terms of DNA identification, the process was very difficult, because there were parents who wanted to approach the bodies and said: “I will identify my child.” We had to explain that the bodies could not be identified and that identification had to be done by DNA, which was a delayed process.

Identifications continue and will continue today as new relatives arrive.

Everything must be investigated. At first, it clearly appears that human error has occurred. Secondly, are there things that should be there to prevent human error or be able to prevent it,” concluded Mr. Plyuris.

Source: SKAI