Road travel between northern and southern Greece remained problematic on Saturday, following the landslide at the Tempi Valley that cut off the main north-south axis.

Announcements by the Greek traffic police said that private cars and small trucks up to 3.5 tonnes using the Athens-Thessaloniki national highway heading south would be diverted at the junction near the city of Katerini and led to Agios Dimitrios and from there to the Katerini-Elassonas-Tyrnavos-Ambelonas-Gyrtoni national highway to the old Larisa-Thessaloniki national highway and then onto the Sykourio-Larisa rural road, where they would rejoin the Athens-Thessaloniki national highway at the Sykourio junction.

Larger vehicles and coaches will be directed off the national highway at Kleidi, Imathia toward the Egnatia Highway between Veria and Kozani, from which they would join the Kozani-Elassonas national highway and then follow the same route as cars and smaller goods vehicles.

Vehicles moving north, likewise, will be directed off the national highway at the Sykourio junction and follow the reverse routes toward Thessaloniki.

Transports and Networks Minister Dimitris Reppas stated on Friday that the Tempi Valley section of the Athens-Thessaloniki national motorway will be closed for at least a month as a result of the major landslide on Thursday that virtually cut Greece in half and killed one person.

Reppas in statements he made in the city of Larissa, central Greece, stressed that a clearer picture of the situation will be available on Monday, when the extent of the problem will be fully assessed by Greek and foreign experts who will suggest solutions.

The minister referred to the use of alternate routes namely, the Larissa-Elassona-Kozani road, the Larissa-Elassona-Katerini road and the Larissa Prefecture coastal road, all of which will have to undergo improvements to cope with the increased traffic due to the holiday season.