At least 26 people were killed and 85 injured in a collision between two trains in the city of Larissa, central Greece, late on Tuesday evening, according to what the firefighting teams announced at dawn on Wednesday, while the circumstances of the accident are still unclear.
"So far, 26 people have been found dead. 85 people have been injured and have been taken to area hospitals," a spokesman for the fire brigade told reporters, noting that rescue operations are still continuing.
About 250 passengers were evacuated safely to Thessaloniki in buses.
The accident resulted from the collision of a freight train with a passenger train carrying 350 passengers on a journey between the capital, Athens, and the city of Thessaloniki, in the north-east of the country.
"The collision was very strong," Governor Constantinos Agorastos told Sky TV, adding that the first four carriages of the passenger train derailed, pointing out that the first two carriages, which caught fire after the collision, were "almost completely destroyed."
One passenger told state station ERT that he managed to escape after breaking a train window with his suitcase.
"There was panic in the carriage, people were screaming," a young man who was evacuated to a nearby bridge told Sky TV.
"It was like an earthquake," Angelos Tsiamuras, another passenger, told ERT.
Sky television showed footage of vehicles derailed and badly damaged, with windows smashed, thick plumes of smoke billowing into the air, and debris strewn across the road.
Rescue workers were seen carrying flashlights into the carriages, searching for trapped passengers.
"The evacuation of the passengers is underway in very difficult conditions due to the risk of the two trains colliding," fire department spokesman Vassilis Varthakogiannis said in a televised speech.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, footage from broadcaster ERT showed rescue workers using headlamps to search for survivors in the surrounding area.