Greeks hold mass protests demanding justice after Tempi train tragedy

Greeks have held their largest protests in years and took half in a normal strike to mark the second anniversary of a rail catastrophe that left 57 lifeless and dozens extra injured.

Within the centre of Athens alone the group was put at lots of of 1000’s, and massive numbers had been seen in Thessaloniki, Larissa and Ioannina, in addition to many different cities.

“For these of us who had youngsters on that practice, part of our soul remained there and can by no means return,” mentioned Maria Karystianou, the top of the Tempi victims’ affiliation, whose daughter Marthi was amongst these killed within the tragedy.

An inquiry concluded on Thursday that the accident was attributable to human error, poor upkeep, and insufficient staffing.

By early afternoon, a bunch of hooded males started to throw rocks and petrol bombs at police, marring the emotional environment near parliament.

Police in riot gear responded with tear gasoline and water cannon as clashes went on for a while across the centre of the capital, in Ermou, Omonia and Propylaia.

Dozens of individuals had been arrested and the difficulty flared up once more as night fell.

The violence forged a shadow over the large scale of protests in nearly each metropolis in Greece.

“I’m right here in reminiscence of the individuals who had been killed within the practice crash. We demand justice,” mentioned 13-year-old Dimitris who had come along with his father Petros Polyzos to the most important rally in Greece, in Syntagma Sq. in downtown Athens.

It was through the evening of 28 February 2023 {that a} passenger practice full of college students collided head-on with a items practice close to the Tempi gorge in central Greece.

The report by Greece’s Air and Rail Accident Investigation Authority warned that the protection failings uncovered by the crash had not but been addressed. “These youngsters had been killed as a result of the practice was not protected,” mentioned the authority’s chief Christos Papadimitriou.

The Tempi rail catastrophe shocked Greeks with many accusing their conservative authorities of doing too little to make clear the causes of the tragedy. There’s a extensively held perception that the federal government has sought to cowl up the position of high-ranking officers.

The complete centre of Athens was crowded with folks of all ages and all walks of life, with many saying they had been attending an indication for the primary time of their lives.

Dmitris and his father had been amongst many protesters in Athens, carrying t-shirts that learn “I’ve no oxygen – justice to the tip”, referring to the 57 who died.

Rallies had been being organised in 346 cities, throughout Greece in Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Patras and Larissa, in addition to in cities throughout Europe, together with Brussels, Rome and a number of other cities within the UK.

The passenger service from Athens to Thessaloniki was crowded with college students returning to college after a vacation for Greek Orthodox Lent when the practice collided with a items practice on the identical observe outdoors Larisa.

Seconds afterwards a fireball nearly utterly destroyed the primary two carriages of the practice.

In Athens, protesters held placards studying “My youngster, name me whenever you arrive” and “No cover-up”.

Dina Gazi, 62, held white balloons with the names of those that died within the accident. “I firmly imagine that the federal government is protecting up these liable for the accident”, she advised BBC. “We demand that each one the proof come to gentle.”

Outlets within the centre had their shutters down, many with messages of sympathy and assist of their home windows, and unusual folks didn’t go to work.

Colleges had been closed, flights and trains cancelled, and the one public transport nonetheless working was taking folks to and from Syntagma Sq..

Taxi drivers promised to take folks to the protest with out cost.

In a submit on Fb, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis mentioned that everybody’s ideas had been with the households of the 57 victims who died, in addition to with the wounded and people who survived however carried the reminiscence of that evening.

“Nothing will ever be the identical any extra,” he added, talking of “deadly human errors coupled with continual shortcomings of the state”.

In workplace for nearly six years, that is the primary time since Mitsotakis was elected that he has been in such a troublesome political place. He promised to maneuver “extra dynamically and rapidly” to result in fashionable and protected trains.

For Greeks this mass protest was uncommon in that it was unrelated to the financial system and their private funds.

Thursday’s inquiry discovered that tens of millions of euros had been paid out to cowl the set up of security techniques alongside the railway, however that the challenge remained incomplete as a result of corruption and forms.

Relations of these killed within the crash imagine the products practice could have been carrying contraband gas on behalf of a smuggling ring.

“It’s unimaginable to find out what precisely brought on [the fireball], however simulations and knowledgeable experiences point out the attainable presence of a hitherto unknown gas,” the report discovered.

“Critical info went lacking as a result of the positioning of the accident was not sealed,” consultants say, rising public anger and heightening hypothesis of a cover-up.

Authorities spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis denied there was a cover-up and mentioned the allegation was not backed up by the report.

Additional allegations have surfaced suggesting orders got to clear the crash web site and “landfill” it days after the catastrophe, which meant that proof disappeared. However Marinakis mentioned the inquiry report concluded that no political directive was give to change the scene.

As he stood within the midst of Friday’s protest in Syntagma Sq., Pavlos Aslanidis spoke in regards to the dying of his 26-year-old son Dimitris within the Tempi accident.

“I do not know the way I discover the power to face,” he advised BBC.

“My son offers me the power. In any other case, I would not be right here at present demanding justice.”