Four killed as Greek train derails, hits house: police

Four people were killed and five others seriously injured when a passenger train from Athens derailed and hit a house near the northern town of Thessaloniki on Saturday, according to Greek rail company Trainose.

No details of the victims were given but Trainose said the train driver was among the injured, after all five carriages of the express train left the track and the engine carriage ploughed into the house.

Search and rescue operations ended in the evening with no word from the dozens of emergency services workers of any further addition to the toll.

Most of the 70 passengers were safely evacuated within three hours of the accident, which happened some 40 kilometers from Thessaloniki. The cause of the derailment was not immediately known, police said.

However regional official Voula Patoulidou said the train may have been travelling too fast as it shuttled between Greece's two biggest cities.

A 24-year-old man who lived in the house which was hit told reporters that he managed to jump off a balcony to safety just before the impact. Photos showed at least one carriage on its back.

A senior national railway official, who arrived at the crash site, said there had been no problems or incidents reported on that stretch of line.

(AFP)