Thousands of protesters held new demonstrations across Greece on Friday to demand justice for the victims and families of the country’s worst rail disaster in which 57 people died in 2023.
The mainly school student protesters have adopted the slogan “I have no oxygen” in a reference to the final moments of people trapped on the mangled passenger train.
According to police, over 5,000 people marched in Athens and 2,000 in Thessaloniki. Other rallies were held in at least six other cities.
“The tears have turned into rage. The young generation will not forgive you,” some protesters chanted. Many directed insults at Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
On February 28, 2003, a train from Athens to Thessaloniki carrying more than 350 passengers collided with a freight train near the central city of Larissa.
Survivors were trapped among smashed carriages and burning debris as the train keeled over.
Investigators appointed by the victims’ families say the freight train was carrying an illegal and unreported load of explosive chemicals, which contributed to the high death toll.
They have said some 30 people survived the initial crash but were then killed by explosions.
There are also claims that the crash site was too hastily cleaned up, destroying vital evidence. The main opposition socialist Pasok party has called for a parliamentary inquiry.
Mitsotakis’s government has faced a torrent of accusations of negligence and criminal wrongdoing.
He acknowledged in a televised interview last month that some victims “died on the train not as a result of the collision… that is why (establishing) the cause of the fire is significant.”
Tens of thousands of protesters last month turned out at rallies in Athens, Thessaloniki and other major cities.
Several unions have called for strikes and protests on the tragedy’s second anniversary on February 28.
The two trains travelled toward each other on the same track for 19 minutes without triggering any alarms.
The accident was blamed on faulty equipment and human error, while a local station master was charged with negligent homicide.
In his January 29 interview, Mitsotakis denied there was any attempt at a cover-up and rejected suggestions that he should resign.
But a Metron Analysis opinion poll released Thursday said 74 percent of Greeks believed there was an attempted government cover-up.
The train’s Italian-owned operator Hellenic Trail has insisted that it knew of no explosive chemicals on the freight train.
The company has said the train carried sheets of metal, steel wires, food products, beer and empty containers.
Τhe Athens prosecutors’ office has summoned Hellenic Train’s former CEO Maurizio Capotorto on suspicion of giving “false testimony” to a parliamentary investigative commission last year.
Source: AFP
