The Greek government’s former Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Kostas Karamanlis, has dismissed accusations that he is avoiding responsibility for the 2023 Tempe railway disaster.
According to Kathimerini, he spoke at a debate in Parliament on a no-confidence motion against the administration over its handling of the deadly crash that caused 57 deaths.
“I have not hidden and I will not hide behind any form of immunity for lawmakers,” Karamanlis told Parliament on Wednesday.
The motion was tabled on Tuesday by socialist PASOK and backed by SYRIZA, New Left, communist KKE and nationalist Greek Solution.
He said the tragedy “is becoming an object of political exploitation.”
The tragedy occurred during his tenure at the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry.
Karamanlis pointed to the previous administration for delays in installing the remote signalling system on Greece’s railway.
“Many fatal mistakes were made – and this is not just a theory, we have a confession,” he said, in an apparent reference to the Larissa stationmaster who is accused of allowing two trains running in opposite directions on the same track.
“The general regulation of rail traffic, the ‘Bible’ of the railroad, was violated seven times.”
This comes as the president of the National Aviation Investigation Agency And Railway Accidents And Transportation Safety (HARSIA) has resigned.
Kathimerini report that sources say Athanasios Binis resigned on March 19 due to personal reasons.
According to officials Deputy President Christos Papadimitriou is in charge of investigating the rail crash.