LARISSA, GREECE (AP) – Authorities in Greece said yesterday remains recovered so far from scene of this week’s rail disaster have been accounted for, with the death toll from the crash remaining at 57.
The bodies of victims from Tuesday’s head-on train collision were being returned to families in closed caskets after DNA matches were confirmed.
Recovery teams were scouring the wreckage for a third day at Tempe, 380 kilometres north of Athens, where a passenger train slammed into a freight carrier, causing the deadliest rail accident in Greece’s history.
Health Ministry officials said victim identifications would be carried out by cross-matching DNA samples from relatives, choosing not to use visual identification because so many of the victims were burned and dismembered.
Police yesterday searched a rail coordination office in the central Greek city of Larissa, removing evidence as part of an on-going investigation.
The facility’s 59-year-old station manager, who has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of negligent manslaughter, is due to testify before a public prosecutor.
Flags, meanwhile, at the ancient Acropolis, Parliament and other public buildings remained at half staff on the third day of national mourning, while national rail services were halted by a strike for a second day.
