Webdesk: On Sunday, Greece’s prime minister pleaded for forgiveness from the families of the 57 victims of the nation’s worst rail disaster, as tens of thousands of demonstrators clashed with police in Athens.
“As prime minister, I owe everyone, but especially the relatives of the victims, an apology,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote in a message to the nation prior to a memorial service in Athens.
Mitsotakis stated on his Facebook page, “For the Greece of 2023, it is impossible for two trains travelling in opposite directions to share the same track without anyone noticing.”
Tuesday’s collision between passenger and freight trains near the city of Larissa prompted widespread outrage throughout Greece.
12,000 people, according to police estimates, gathered on the large esplanade in front of the Greek parliament to demand accountability for Tuesday’s head-on collision near the city of Larissa, which has sparked widespread outrage.
AFP journalists witnessed police and protesters engage in violent clashes. According to the police, seven officers were injured and five arrests were made.
Petrol bombs and tear gas
Some protesters set rubbish cans on fire and threw Molotov cocktails. Others carried signs that read “Down with murderous governments!” To clear the square, police responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades.
At the small station of Rapsani, close to the accident site, locals placed red and white carnations and lit candles along the train tracks as a memorial.
Greek television broadcast harrowing images of sobbing parents demanding information about their children who had been on the train and berating the authorities for what had occurred.
Michalis Hasiotis, the head of the chartered accountants’ union, told AFP that the disaster was caused by “the desire for profit and the absence of passenger protection measures.”
Sunday, relatives and loved ones of the deceased gathered outside the Larissa station in central Greece, near the accident site, for a memorial service.
The station master, identified as Vassilis Samaras, who admitted responsibility for the accident appeared before a judge on Sunday, his hearing having been postponed from the day prior.
The 59-year-old is facing life in prison if convicted of negligent homicide.
Grief and Anger
Late Saturday night, Hellenic Train, the rail company that has become the target of some of the anger expressed in the aftermath of the accident, defended its actions.
During the week, hundreds of people demonstrated in front of the company’s headquarters in Athens, and according to a legal source, investigators are examining the possibility of bringing charges against senior members of the company.
In recent days, rail union officials have asserted that they warned the company about safety issues on the line. Concerning the government’s failure to implement rail safety reforms, difficult questions are also being raised.
The demonstrations and vigils held across Greece in response to the collision between a passenger train and a freight train have expressed a mixture of grief and rage.
The majority of the victims were returning students from a weekend break.
One protester, Sophia Hatzopoulou, a 23-year-old philosophy student in Thessaloniki, stated, “What transpired was no accident; it was a crime.” We cannot observe all of this and remain indifferent.
At least nine Aristotle University of Thessaloniki students were among those killed on the passenger train.
“New components” in case
Regarding the assignment of overall responsibility, Mitsotakis insisted, “We cannot, do not want to, and must not hide behind human error.”
Details regarding the station master’s inexperience and the fact that he was left unsupervised during a busy holiday weekend have emerged in Greek media.
“These are particularly difficult days for the country and for our company,” the operator said in a late Saturday statement, noting that it had lost nine employees in Europe’s third-worst rail accident in terms of fatalities in more than three decades.
The company added that its employees rushed to the disaster site and have been collaborating with rescue teams and authorities ever since.
Kostas Genidounias, the head of the train drivers’ union OSE, stated that they had previously alerted authorities about safety deficiencies on the line where the accident occurred.
Three weeks ago, union leaders at Hellenic Train raised the alarm.
They stated at the time, “We will not wait for the accident to occur to see those responsible cry crocodile tears.”
