As anger mounts over rail disaster in Greece, thousands join protests

People march, filling the street, during a protestation to people the 2nd day of the country's worst railway disaster, while an probe continues, successful Thessaloniki, Greece, February 28, 2025. [Murad Sezer/Reuters]

Two years aft a devastating train clang successful bluish Greece, a wide strike and hundreds of demonstrations are bringing the federation to standstill to people the day of a tragedy that has go a symbol of organization failure.

The wide mobilization, led by relatives of the 57 radical killed, has been fueled by nationalist resentment against the blimpish government’s perceived inaction. Critics accidental that politicians should beryllium held accountable for failures that led up to the crash, but so acold lone obstruction officials person charged with immoderate crimes.

The Feb. 28, 2023, catastrophe successful Tempe – where a rider train collided head-on with an oncoming freight train – was Greece’s worst railway accident. The fiery clang besides near dozens injured and exposed deficiencies successful the country’s transportation infrastructure.

“The afloat truth indispensable travel to light, and those responsible, nary substance however precocious their position, indispensable beryllium held accountable,” said Yannis Panagopoulos, president of the General Confederation of Greek Workers, the country’s largest labour union, which has backed Friday’s strike.

“Let us each take to the streets, expressing the outrage and demands of the overwhelming bulk of the Greek people,” helium said.

Protests and disruption crossed the country

Flights and obstruction services person been canceled, ferries halted and nationalist transportation crossed the state has been severely disrupted. Private businesses and nationalist services person besides been affected, with galore stores successful Athens closed, leaving messages of solidarity for the victims’ families successful beforehand windows.

Thousands gathered Friday successful beforehand of Parliament, while demonstrations are planned successful much than 300 cities and towns successful Greece and abroad. Protesters successful Athens, chanting “You number profits. We number lives,” carried achromatic balloons and anti-government banners and blared aerosol horns. Athens municipal worker Costas Reintzopoulos said the obstruction clang had highlighted longstanding demands for safer working conditions. Eleven of the radical who died astatine the Tempe catastrophe were railway employees. “Every day, there is simply a request to cognize the truth astir what happened, and each time there is request to for amended information measures successful the workplace. That is simply a cardinal crushed why this remains relevant,” helium said. “We don’t want to mourn much dormant people, who permission successful the greeting to spell to work and we don’t cognize if they’ll travel back.”

More than 5,000 constabulary officers are being deployed successful the superior to negociate crowds and imaginable unrest.

Memorial services will beryllium held astatine Orthodox churches successful Athens for the victims, who included galore university students returning from a agelong weekend.

Their families person urged protesters to support the absorption connected remembrance alternatively than politics.

“This time is 1 of remembrance, respect and reflection,” an relation representing the families said successful a statement. “It is dedicated to those who were unjustly lost, to the grieving families, and to the pursuit of justness that remains unresolved.”

Yet the protests person created a politically precarious infinitesimal for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government.

His conservatives support a strong pb successful the polls, but nationalist dissatisfaction implicit the Tempe catastrophe has led to surging support for anti-establishment parties connected some the near and right. Opposition leaders, who are struggling to summation traction, are weighing whether to enactment guardant a censure motion. Mitsotakis promised to proceed work to amended obstruction safety, adding: “Every Greek participates successful this mourning, united under the communal request for truth.”

Human mistake and systemic failures blamed for the Tempe crash

Mountainous Greece is mostly road-reliant and the nation’s railway system is centered astir a single way betwixt Athens and the second-largest city, Thessaloniki, a information that made the collision harder for galore to understand.

A long-awaited study connected the probe into the Tempe crash, released Thursday, blamed quality error, outdated infrastructure and large systemic failures for the head-on collision.

The aftermath was marked by scenes of chaos, with surviving passengers describing tumbling carriages, fires and smashed windows arsenic they scrambled to escape.

It was followed by the gruesome task of victim betterment and recognition arsenic galore bodies were severely burned oregon dismembered. Funerals were held crossed galore communities passim Greece, galore streamed oregon broadcast live, turning backstage grief into a shared nationalist experience.

Hours aft the collision, Maria Karystianou rushed to the country of the tragedy to hunt for her missing daughter, 21-year-old Maria-Thomai, arsenic the train cars still smoldered. After a two-day wait, Maria-Thomai’s decease was yet confirmed with a DNA match.

Karystianou, a 52-year-old pediatrician, has since go a starring fig successful the run to clasp politicians to relationship for the crash. This week she publically thanked unions and associations that joined the protests, including doctors astatine nationalist hospitals, and lawyers and judges who will clasp a minute’s soundlessness successful courts Friday.

“With unthinkable emotion and pride,” she wrote successful an online post, “I wish I could springiness each 1 of you a warm embrace.”

[AP]