Urgent probe into deadly rail collision ordered by Greece’s high court prosecutor; 3-day mourning period declared

The head of Greece’s supreme court prosecutor’s office has ordered an urgent investigation into the reasons behind a deadly train collision in north-central Greece late Thursday night, with the official death toll on Wednesday morning reaching 36.

The order by high court prosecutor Isidoros Dogiakos essentially means that lower levels of judicial inquiry are bypassed in favor of a higher-ranking prosecutor, which in this case is the head of the appellate prosecutor’s office in the central city of Larissa, in whose vicinity Greece’s worst rail disaster occurred.

In echoing the same sentiment, a government spokesman in Athens said a parallel probe has commenced over «how two trains ran on the same rail line in opposite directions for several kilometers».

Spokesman Yannis Economou said first responders, paramedics, military personnel and equipment operators at the site now exceed 500.

Earlier, the government declared a three-day mourning period, with public and commemorative events cancelled.