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At least 32 people were killed and another 85 injured after two trains collided near the Greek city of Larissa, authorities said, as emergency services raced Wednesday to find survivors among the charred wreckage, AFP reported.

Several carriages were almost completely destroyed in the collision between a passenger train and a freight train just before midnight on Tuesday, with at least one car appearing to catch fire and trap passengers inside.

"I've never seen anything like this in my entire life," said one rescue worker, emerging from the wreckage. "It's tragic. Five hours later, we are finding bodies."

Smoke and flames emerged from several cars, some of which had overturned when they came off the tracks in the impact, leaving a tangled mess of metal and shattered glass.

The passenger train, carrying 350 passengers, had been travelling from the capital Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki.

Greek media said it had been carrying many students returning to Thessaloniki after a long holiday weekend.

"It was a nightmare... I'm still shaking," 22-year-old passenger Angelos told AFP.

"Fortunately we were in the penultimate car and we got out alive. There was a fire in the first cars and complete panic."

"The collision was like a huge earthquake."

Some 150 firefighters and 40 ambulances were mobilised for the response, according to Greek emergency services.

"The operation to free trapped people is under way and is taking place in difficult conditions, due to the seriousness of the collision between the two trains," spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told reporters.

He said that 32 people have been found dead, while 53 of the injured were in hospital.

But the toll was expected to rise as cranes and rescuers worked through the debris.

It is not yet known why the two trains collided in what local media is calling the worst "train accident that Greece has ever known".