At least four dead after passenger train derails in Greece

At least four people have been killed and five seriously injured, including the driver, after a passenger train derailed in Greece.

The intercity train was travelling with 70 passengers from Athens to Thessaloniki when it went off the rails and crashed into a house near the station at the village of Adendro on Saturday night, said the state railway.

Witnesses say they saw the train slam into a house, where two people jumped off a balcony.

"I was sitting on my porch. I saw a flash and, immediately, heard a terrible explosion," Giorgos Mylonas, 78, said.

"Then I saw the train enter (a nearby) house and heard the two Albanians who live there scream for help," he added.

One of the three-story house's two tenants said he and his friend jumped from the balcony.

"We heard a terrible explosion and we were very scared," said Mir, 26, who only gave his first name.

The train's engine went right through the house, the house is now tilting.

A local official, Mavroudis Mintsioudis, said that "the whole house is now leaning on the train, which shows you how severe the crash was".

Emergency workers, along with 24 fire engines and many ambulances, are at the scene searching the wreckage.