Greek bus crash kills 22

CHURCH bells tolled across the northern Greek village of Makrohori yesterday as funerals were held for 11 of the 22 teenagers killed in one of the country’s worst traffic accidents.

The youngsters were killed on Sunday night when the bus carrying them home from a school trip to Athens crashed into a 330ft ravine following an accident with a timber truck that had shed its load.

22 of the 49 youngsters on board died. Most were aged 15 or 16. Thirty-two people were injured, including 24 pupils, two teachers and another adult on the bus, its driver, and four people in three cars that also crashed.

A state of mourning was announced yesterday across most of northern Greece.

All the students attended the same class in the village of 1,200 residents, 34 miles south of Thessaloniki. Only five of the 54 students in the class did not go on the field trip.

The rest of the funerals were being held yesterday in neighbouring villages.

The crash occurred when the truck skidded on a corner and its load of plywood boards sheared through the entire left half of the bus, killing nearly everyone sitting on that side.

The bus and three cars then hit the side of a cliff, which lines the winding mountainous stretch of the main road linking Athens with Thessaloniki.

The incident took place at Tempi, about 220 miles north of the capital and 62 miles from Makrohori.

Premier Costas Simitis promised an in-depth investigation.

“This is a tragedy. Whatever the cause, which will be investigated, the tragic fact remains. I express my grief and compassion, like all the Greek people, for the unfair loss of so many young children, as well as my undivided support toward the families of all the victims,” Simitis said.

It the second fatal accident involving a bus in northern Greece this year.