Greek crash kills 21 teenagers

Greek crash kills 21 teenagers

The bus was crushed in the crash

Twenty-one teenagers from a small Greek village have been killed in a crash between their school bus and a lorry.

More than 30 other people were injured, some of them seriously.

The crash happened on a winding road in the Tembi Valley near the town of Larissa in northern Greece.

The lorry's load of plywood came free in the crash and sliced into the bus, which was carrying children aged 14 to 16 home from a school trip to Athens.

I got onto the wrong lane and crashed with the bus. The plywood sheets just slammed into the vehicle

Lorry driver

"It was like a razor chopping off half of the bus," said one rescue worker.

The driver, interviewed on Greek television, said he had lost control of his vehicle.

"I got onto the wrong lane and crashed with the bus," he said. "The plywood sheets just slammed into the vehicle."

Three cars travelling behind the bus also crashed.

The schoolchildren, who had been on a three-day trip, were less than an hour from their homes in the village of Makrihori when the crash happened. The village has a population of only 3,000.

Rescue workers picked through the wreckage

"The youth of the village with its 3,000 population has been decimated," said Greek Education Minister Eleni Kourkoula.

The bus driver and three teachers were among the survivors.

Some of the surviving students described scenes of horror as the injured tried to escape from the wrecked bus.

"I was dragged out by a friend but there were dead bodies everywhere," said one injured pupil. "There was blood everywhere."

Authorities said Sunday's crash was the worst in Greece for around 30 years.

An inquiry into the cause was continuing on Monday.