In the midst of tragedy and the landscape of disappointment, those stories can be distinguished that cause emotion and remind us that no matter how dramatic the moments are, there are nuggets of hope.
While the tragic toll grows and the anguish for those trapped under the train intensifies, a post on Facebook by a doctor at the Larissa University Hospital, Eris Tziastoudis, gives another picture of the tragedy in Tempi.
According to the administrative advisor of the Medical Association of Larissa, a 20-year-old student stood out for his heroic action when he managed to break the glass by himself and save at least ten young people, boys and girls.
The reason for the student Andreas Alikaniotis, who came out almost unscathed from the 2nd carriage, and defying the danger, the huge fire burning next to him, wanted to save people. And he succeeded.
The entire post by Eris Tziastoudis:
"Although the sky was filled with angels today, we are lucky to have an earthly angel among us, the 20-year-old student Andreas Alikaniotis, who came out almost unscathed from the 2nd carriage. He is a hero because at the risk of his life, with the huge fire next to him, he did not abandon the wagon but managed to break the glass by himself and saved at least ten more children, boys and girls.
In today's dark day, Andreas showed us that the new generation of Greeks has kindness, principles and morals!
Congratulations my beautiful Andrea, congratulations to the parents who raised you!!!"
Meanwhile, at least 38 people have been killed so far in the tragedy in Tempe.
According to the data so far, the missing are 24 – it is the number obtained from the number of passengers excluding the dead, injured and those who did not require hospitalization.
The work of investigating the wreckage has not been completed and for this reason the authorities emphasize that the final number will increase even more. The severity of the collision and the fire that broke out in the wagons make the task of locating the victims much more difficult, but even more so their identification.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the process of taking DNA samples from relatives to identify the bodies was completed. The Fire Department had reported that 17 DNA samples were taken from the bodies and 23 samples from relatives of the passengers.
There were 341 passengers on board the passenger train, as well as 13 other staff – a total of 354 people. There were two people on the commercial train.
In the -so far- last update from the Fire Department at 18:45, there was talk of 38 dead, a number that is expected to increase. Information from Civil Protection raises the number of dead to 40.
Of the 72 hospitalized passengers, 15 were discharged and 57 passengers remain for hospitalization, of which 6 are in the Intensive Care Unit. It is, according to information, a 21-year-old, a 25-year-old, a 26-year-old, a 23-year-old, a 26-year-old and a young woman without confirmed information.
In addition, always according to the Fire Department, 194 passengers were transported by 5 buses to Thessaloniki, by a 6th bus 20 passengers were transported to Larissa and 8 passengers were transported to Katerini.
From the data provided by the Fire Department, it appears that there are 24 missing people. They are those who are not included in the 38 dead, the 72 injured and the 222 who did not need treatment on two trains with a total of 356 passengers.
Source: Protothema.gr