Dozens hurt in Athens train crash

It appears the driver's action may have saved passengers' lives

A suburban passenger train and a freight train have collided in Athens, injuring at least 50 people.

The crash happened during the morning rush-hour in the western area of Sepolia. An inquiry has been launched.

The injured were rushed to hospital, but none of the casualties appeared to be serious. The commuter train driver had time to warn his passengers.

It is the first significant accident involving the light railway built for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

But it is one of several incidents this year involving trains run by the state company OSE.

The two-carriage suburban train was packed with commuters when it slammed head-on into a freight train that was on the same track.

These two trains should not have been using the same track Andreas Vassilopoulos, Greek Rail Workers' Association

The BBC's correspondent in Athens, Malcolm Brabant, says the driver of the suburban train was apparently able to see that an impact was inevitable and had time to leave his cabin and warn the passengers to brace themselves.

The cause of the accident is not yet known, but the Greek Rail Workers' Association said the two trains should not have been on the same stretch of line.

"This is the kind of practice that will lead to an accident sooner or later. These two trains should not have been using the same track," the association's leader Andreas Vassilopoulos told the Associated Press.

This year, at least two other major incidents have occurred on Greek railways. A freight train transporting armoured personnel carriers for the Greek army derailed in northern Greece in February and another carrying liquid fuel derailed and caught fire in May.