Greece train crash catastrophe: Angry protests erupted

• A train crash killed 43 people.
• Rioters clashed with police outside the Athens headquarters.
• Many of the 350 passengers were students in their twenties.

Protests have erupted in Greece in response to the rail crash that killed 43 people, with many viewing it as an accident waiting to happen.

Rioters clashed with police outside the Athens headquarters of Hellenic Train, the corporation in charge of maintaining Greece’s railways.

Protests were also organized in Thessaloniki and Larissa, both of which are close to where the accident occurred on Tuesday night.

According to the administration, an independent probe will bring justice.

Following the tragedy, in which a passenger train collided head-on with a freight train, causing the front cars to explode into flames, the country has announced three days of national mourning.

The passenger train’s front coaches were mostly wrecked.

Many of the 350 passengers were students in their twenties returning to Thessaloniki after a long weekend spent commemorating Greek Orthodox Lent.

Tragic human error

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated “tragic human error” was to blame for the accident.

In Larissa, a 59-year-old station master has been charged with manslaughter by negligence. He has denied any misconduct and has blamed the catastrophe on a technological flaw.

Rail union members feel that safety measures were not functioning properly, despite repeated warnings over many years.

Rail workers intend to strike on Thursday in protest at what they see as official neglect of the railways.

“Pain has turned into anger for the dozens of dead and wounded colleagues and fellow citizens,” the workers’ union said in a statement announcing the strike.

Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned over the catastrophe, stating he would accept responsibility for the authorities’ “long-standing failings” to fix a railway system he said was not suitable for the 21st Century.

Nonetheless, a sign was erected outside a hospital where the bodies of the train crash victims were being taken, saying that any systemic flaws will be covered up in the official investigation currently underway.

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