Two trains collided head-on in Greece killing at least 29 people and injuring 85 late on Tuesday night, the fire brigade said, but the cause of the deadliest rail crash in Greece in decades remained unclear.

According to international media reports, an intercity passenger train travelling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki collided at high speed with a cargo train outside the city of Larissa in central Greece, said the governor of the Thessaly region.

The impact caused a fire in a number of the passenger carriages, burning many commuters who were rushed to hospitals.

“We heard a big bang, (it was) 10 nightmarish seconds,” said Stergios Minenis, a 28-year-old passenger who jumped to safety from the wreckage.

Thessaly regional governor Konstantinos Agorastos told reporters that the first four carriages of the passenger train were derailed in the crash, while the first two carriages, which caught fire, were “almost completely destroyed”.

He said the two trains hurtled towards each other on the same track.

“They were travelling at great speed and one (driver) didn’t know the other was coming,” the governor said.

About 250 passengers were evacuated safely to Thessaloniki on buses. One passenger told reporters he managed to escape after breaking the train window with his suitcase.

“There was panic in the carriage, people were screaming,” a young man who was evacuated to a nearby bridge told.

Local media reported about 350 people were travelling on the passenger train, which departed Athens around 7.30 pm (0530 GMT). The fire brigade said it was informed of the accident shortly before midnight on Tuesday. The cargo train had been travelling from Thessaloniki to Larissa.

In 1972, 19 people were killed when two trains collided head on outside Larissa.