Bystander killed when train wagon hits wall in Piraeus
A train carriage undergoing maintenance came off the tracks and slammed through the wall of a station near Piraeus, killing a bystander and injuring six rail company employees, authorities said yesterday. The fire service said the incident involved an empty Kifissia-Pireaus railway train that had just been cleaned after undergoing maintenance work. No passengers were involved. A single car came off the tracks after traveling for some 200 meters when its safety system was deactivated for some unknown reason. It then crashed through the station wall and struck two vehicles parked on a road outside the facility. Just meters away from the location where the crash took place is one of the area’s busiest bus stops. The body of an unidentified man, aged about 45, was found under the wreckage by firefighters, several hours after the incident. The six rail employees, female cleaners, were treated at hospital for minor injuries. Authorities are attributing the accident to human error, though the incident raises concerns about safety conditions at the train depot. Police arrested the manager in charge of the depot and a train driver as they continued their investigation into the causes of the accident late yesterday. The accident caused serious traffic problems in the busy Piraeus area during the afternoon as work crews undertook to remove the train.
