GREECE TRAIN CRASH: RAIL WORKERS STRIKE AS ANGER OVER CRASH GROWS

GREECE .Rail workers across Greece have begun a one-day strike after Tuesday’s train crash which killed at least 43 people.

“Pain has turned into anger for the dozens of dead and wounded colleagues and fellow citizens,” the workers’ union said in a statement.

The walkout follows protests in Athens, Thessaloniki and the city of Larissa, near the site of the disaster.

Rescue workers are still going through burned and buckled carriages, searching for victims.

This was the “most difficult moment”, rescuer Konstantinos Imanimidis told Reuters news agency, as “instead of saving lives, we have to recover bodies”.

The incident happened just before midnight on Tuesday. A passenger train carrying 350 people collide with a freight train after both ended up on the same track – causing the front carriages to burst into flames.

The railway workers’ strike began at 0600 local time (0400 GMT), affecting national rail services and the subway in Athens.

Many in Greece see the crash as an accident waiting to happen, and the union blamed successive governments’ “disrespect” towards Greek railways for leading to this “tragic result”.

Meanwhile The President of Greece, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, has cut short an official visit to Moldova to visit the site of the crash.

“Unfortunately, I have to interrupt my visit in order to be close to my people, to support those who need it,” Reuters news agency quoted the president.

She said “a life-saving operation” is ongoing on “to help those who are on this death train”.

At least 36 people have died and dozens more were injured in the collision between two trains near the city of Larissa last night.

The passenger train involved in the crash was around two-thirds full with many young people, the Reuters news agency reports, citing people it’s been speaking to at the scene.

About 350 people are believed to have been on board

The prime minister of Greece says the country will enter a three day period of mourning.

All public celebrations have been cancelled and flags on public buildings will fly at half mast until Friday.