In an interview with K, the regional governor of Thessaly, Kostas Agorastos, described footage from the scene of the tragedy after the train collision.

“The first two cars are crushed, and the car at the top was the train’s restaurant. All this amorphous mass is like scrap,” he characteristically said, asking the question “how can two trains end up on the same line in opposite directions.”

“That question needs to be answered. What happened is unbelievable, the scene of the tragedy speaks for itself. If it had happened a minute later, the collision would have occurred inside the Tempe tunnel, after which there would have been an explosion and possibly even a collapse of the tunnel,” he added.

Mr. Agorastos also argued that “the incident shows how much attention this job requires, especially when you’re dealing with so many people.”

According to him, “Most of the passengers turned out to be from our area, and some of them turned out to be students. Psychiatrists are already assisting relatives of the dead while the bodies are being identified by DNA. In this part, the forensic service of Larisa is doing everything possible so that the relatives of the victims do not suffer. Many of the bodies were in poor condition. We are also waiting for the Prime Minister on the spot.”