Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tuesday, 28 February, will be remembered as a black day for the nation of Greece. A serious and tragic train disaster has left at least 57 people dead and dozens more injured, some of them extremely seriously. We've all seen the scenes on our TVs and in the media in the last week or so. Our deepest condolences go to the families and friends of the people killed but also to all Greeks in Greece and all Greek Australians here in the Australian community who are mourning this terrible incident, which many say was an avoidable tragedy. There are still many bodies that haven't been recovered. Many people have relatives over there. I haven't heard of any Australian victims thus far, but there are still many bodies being recovered. Rescue workers are still going through burnt and buckled carriages, still searching for victims. The accident happened as the passenger train, travelling from Athens to Thessaloniki, emerged from a tunnel in the area of Tempi. At the same time a freight train was travelling in the opposite direction.

A division ha ving been called in the H ouse of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 16:16 to 16:29