Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in cities and towns across Greece to demand justice on the second anniversary of the country’s deadliest-ever train crash.
Fifty-seven people were killed when a passenger train filled with students collided with a freight train on February 28, 2023, near the Tempi gorge in central Greece.
Two years later, the safety gaps that caused the crash have not been filled, an inquiry found earlier this week. A separate judicial investigation remains unfinished and no one has been convicted in the accident, leading to outrage among Greek citizens.
Bi-partisan protests are taking place across the country and outside Greek embassies around the world, including in London.
People gather next to fire, near the Greek parliament during a protest,
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Protests broke out in Athens
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People gather in front of the Greek parliament during a protest
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People clash with police near the Greek parliament at a protest
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People gather near the Greek parliament during a protest in Athens
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The majority of businesses across Greece were shut and theatres cancelled performances as violence erupted in Athens.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ right wing government, which won re-election after the crash in 2023, has faced repeated criticism by relatives of the victims for failing to initiate a parliamentary inquiry into political responsibility.
Mitsotakis’ government denies wrongdoing and says it is up to the judiciary to investigate the accident, leading to allegations of corruption.
In the suburbs of the capital, groups of all ages marched downtown with placards reading “I have no oxygen,” a slogan of the protests echoing a woman’s last words in a call to emergency services. Many pupils went to class dressed in black, a symbol of mourning, while others held up black balloons.
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A demonstrator prepares to throw an object during a protest by the Greek parliamentReuters
A collision between two trains caused a derailment near the Greek city of Larissa took place in 2023
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A drone view shows people gathering in front of the Greek parliament during a protest
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Christos Main, 57, a musician at the Athens rally, said: “The government hasn’t done anything to get justice…This wasn’t an accident, it was murder.”
Another protester, who gave her name as Evi, said she was there to mourn the dead, “but also because the government has tried to cover things up.”
Opposition parties have accused the government of covering up evidence and urged it to step down. Next week, parliament is expected to debate whether to set up a committee to investigate possible political responsibility in the disaster.
In a survey carried out this week by Pulse pollsters, 82 per cent of Greeks asked said the train disaster was “one of the most” or “the most” important issue in the country and 66 per cent said they were dissatisfied with the investigations into the accident.
Police stand next to fire during clashes near the Greek parliament
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Maria Karystianou, whose daughter died in the crash and who heads an association of victims’ families, told the crowd in Athens: “Every day, the monster of corrupt power appears before us.”
Students shouted “Text me when you get there,” – the final message many of the victims’ relatives sent them. A cardboard sign read: “Greece kills its children.”
“We’re here because we’re parents… tomorrow it might be our children,” said Litsa, a 45-year-old nurse.
A large crowd of people poured into the central Syntagma Square in front of parliament, chanting “murderers” against what they say is the state’s role in the disaster.
A fire burns during clashes with riot police outside the Greek parliament
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All international and domestic flights were grounded as air traffic controllers joined seafarers, train drivers, doctors, lawyers and teachers in a 24-hour general strike to pay tribute to the victims of the crash.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Prime Minister Mitsotakis said his government would work to modernize the railway network and make it safer.
“That night, we saw the ugliest face of the country in the national mirror,” he wrote of the night of the crash. “Fatal human errors met with chronic state inadequacies.”