More than 30,000 people gathered in Greece this Wednesday to mark the country’s deadliest train disaster a year ago and demand justice for the 57 people killed in the tragedy, police said.
More than 20,000 people demonstrated in the capital and 10,000 in Thessaloniki, the second-largest city, at the request of several unions, including the public sector, which is staging a parallel 24-hour strike.
More than a thousand people gathered at the scene of the accident in the Tempe Valley (central Greece), most of whom were family members of the victims.
The accident killed 57 people, most of whom were teenagers and young adults. This Wednesday was also marked by several strikes demanding that those responsible for the worst railway tragedy in the country’s history be brought to justice.
There were no metro, taxis, trams or commuter trains in Athens this Wednesday, and seafarers and railway workers also joined the 24-hour strike called by the civil servants’ union ADEDY, meaning that all ships remain moored at the ports and railway lines No.
“We will continue to fight, demanding accountability from those responsible and nullifying any attempt to hide our responsibility,” ADEDY states in the strike call.
Primary school teachers and journalists also joined the protests, calling for a four-hour strike to demand a “substantive investigation” into the tragedy.
Demonstrations were called across the country to honor the victims of the accident and demand that what unions and victims’ associations did not hide was “a crime in Tempe,” the city where a passenger train collided head-on on February 28, 2023, with another shipment of goods.
There were no security systems or even signage at the site where the accident occurred, sparking a wave of unrest and mass protests against the government of conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
A few hours after the incident, Greek Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis, who eight days earlier had assured that the government would guarantee the safety of trains, resigned.
To date, 31 executives, including several former state railroad presidents, have been charged with crimes related to railroad insecurity.
Also charged with “manslaughter” is the station master in charge of the section, who has admitted responsibility for an error that resulted in a passenger train being stranded on the same track as a freight train approaching in the opposite direction.
On the 20th of this month, Mitsotakis’ party, the conservative New Democracy (ND), used the absolute majority it won in the June elections to close an investigation launched by a parliamentary committee into the causes of the accident.
Most opposition parties have resigned from the commission, which is expected to present its findings on March 11.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.