Speaking to 100.3 and in their broadcast Vasilis Chiotis and Noti Papadopoulosthe lieutenant general of the Fire Department Evangelos Falarasgeneral coordinator of Central Greece and Thessaly operations, referred to the picture he saw when he arrived at the scene of the tragedy in Tempi, where 57 people lost their lives.

Beginning his account of the time he learned of the train collision, he stated:

“At 11:20, the first 112 call was made for a train diversion accompanied by a fire and possible entrapment. Immediately there was a mobilization of the service and colleagues, while at the same time I was also informed by phone. At 12:03 I was at the point where the colleagues had already started to attempt.

The nearest services were the fire brigades based in Ethniki and then the one in Larissa. These vehicles about 5 in number, in 15-17 minutes were at the spot. During my transit to the scene, I was informed that about 350 people were inside the train.

The wagons had been diverted and there was fire, wounded, and trapped people. The fire had spread to wagon No. 2. The first wagon had been cut off and had fallen to the east, to the right of the tracks. The rest of the wagons, No. 1 and the canteen were compressed under the burning wagon 2,” emphasized Mr. Falaras.

The tunnel

Regarding the tunnel and the rumors that it is not certified, Mr. Falaras emphasized that an exercise was carried out last January and it was certified, but this tunnel has certain requirements, which are not met.

The gas bottles

As for the rumors that there were LPG cylinders which they caused explosion during the conflict, Mr. Falaras emphasized:

“I categorically deny the existence of gas cylinders on the train. To have this explosion we must have an abundance of fuel. The high temperatures and overpressure of the engines caused the oil that is there to cool the engine to be dispersed in all directions and I believe that this caused the explosion.”

Regarding how the rescued “escaped”, Mr. Falaros noted that “the doors could not be opened because there was no electricity and they are electric, but at the same time the irons were also deformed. With her, the 8th EMAK, which is located in Larissa and had arrived at the scene, had the equipment to cut sheet metal and operate. The problem we faced had to do with the weights we had to manage. They are not car sheets, they are thick. But we found a way and did our job.”

The immediate arrival of ambulances

Mr. Falaras added that “we asked for the mass casualty management system to be implemented and for all units, ambulances, hospitals, etc. to be activated. The dispersion of ambulances is a given and so ambulances that were nearby came immediately and a total of about 40 ambulances attempted.

The one patient per transfer protocol was not implemented. I also saw two injured people enter. A total of 85 injured people reached the hospitals. We learned that five of them went to Katerini to the hospital on their own. At the same time, the company mobilized 7 buses to take the rescued to Thessaloniki, which was the destination.

“I saw destruction where there was life”

When asked if he has gotten over the shock of what he saw at the scene, Mr. Falaras replied that “we haven’t gotten over it yet. I did an autopsy the next day from wagon 4 onwards which had not been damaged. The colleagues had collected some things, bags, bowls, books, etc.

Entering these wagons, I thought that there was life here, and there I realized that a great disaster had taken place, because in the first hours with the load of work we had, I had not had time to capture it.

When we were putting together the casualty numbers, things got difficult.

I asked for psychological support for colleagues which we attempted on the spot to overcome this great shock we experienced.”