Big anger in Greece: ‘Accident said I’m going’
The collision of a passenger train and a freight train in the afternoon of the previous day in the Tempi region, north of the Greek city of Larissa, brought the country to its feet. At least 43 people were recorded dead and dozens injured in the accident, where some of the passenger trains derailed and the front carriages burned.
The accident was one of the biggest tragedies in Greece in recent years.
Following the accident, Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned, saying “it is a duty in memory of the people who died unjustly.” Prime Minister Kiryakos Mitsotakis, who visited the site, said the train accident was “caused by tragic human error.”
After the accident, many people took to the streets of the capital, Athens. The demonstrators gathered in front of the Directorate of Railway Affairs, blaming the company for the failure to renew the railways in the country, and chanted “This accident said I’m coming.”
In Athens, protesters lit candles in memory of those who lost their lives.
While clashes broke out between protesters in Athens and the police, demonstrations were also held in Thessaloniki and Larissa, where the accident occurred.
‘TRAIN LINES NEGLECTED BY THE GOVERNMENT’
By declaring three days of mourning, the Greek government promised an independent investigation into the incident. Larissa Railway Manager, who was detained after the incident, denied the allegations, arguing that the accident was caused by a “technical fault”.
Railway unions affirm that the terrible accident occurred as a result of the systems not being renewed and the safety systems not working properly despite the warnings they have been giving for years.
It has been announced that the railway workers will go on strike today to draw attention to the government’s neglect of the railway lines. The unions pointed out that the government might try to cover up the incident in the official investigation.