Demonstrators set fire to garbage cans and threw Molotov cocktails and the police responded with tear gas and stun grenades in the center of the Greek capital, AFP journalists noted.
In a few minutes, Syntagma Square, the large esplanade facing the Parliament, was emptied of 12,000 demonstrators, according to a new count by the police, who had gathered a little earlier to hold the Greek authorities to account after this head-on collision between two trains running on the same track.
Some 7,500 people, according to police, demonstrated their anger outside parliament in Athens after the train disaster in Greece. [AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis – Keystone]
The demonstrators, who notably held up placards “Down with murderous governments”, answered the call of students, railway workers and public sector employees while trains and the metro are on strike in the country.
Facing Parliament, they released hundreds of black balloons into the sky in memory of the victims of the head-on collision between a passenger train from Athens to Thessaloniki in the north and a goods convoy on Tuesday evening.
The Prime Minister asks for forgiveness
Earlier, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked the families of the victims for forgiveness in a solemn declaration.
“As Prime Minister, I owe everyone, but especially the relatives of the victims, (to ask) forgiveness,” he wrote in a message published in particular on his Facebook account. “In the Greece of 2023, it is not possible for two trains to run in opposite directions on the same line and for no one to notice.”
“We cannot, do not want and must not hide behind human error” attributed to the station master, insisted the Conservative leader.
>> See the first images of the collision:
Not far from the protest, the Prime Minister took part in a religious service in the Orthodox Cathedral of Athens, as all the churches in the country paid tribute to the victims of what was described by the authorities as “a national tragedy “.
Station master heard by the courts
The station manager of Larissa, the nearest town to the scene of the accident, admitted his responsibility for the disaster.
Presented by the media as inexperienced and in office for a short time, this 59-year-old man must be heard by the courts on Sunday with a view to a possible charge of “manslaughter by negligence”.
However, the dilapidated state of the rail network, various problems in the signaling and safety system on the railways have also been pointed out as union representatives have sounded the alarm in recent weeks on the shortcomings of the rail network. and lack of staff.
“Assassins”
At the small station of Rapsani, near the scene of the accident in the center of the country, parents of students put red and white carnations and lit candles on the rails. The anger is primarily directed at Hellenic Train. The word “Assassins” was painted in red letters on the glass of the headquarters in Athens on Friday.
The company is blamed for numerous negligence and shortcomings that led to this disaster described as a “national tragedy” by the authorities. She defended herself on Saturday evening, claiming to have “been present from the first moments on the scene” and set up “a call center (…) to provide information”.
Union representatives for the railways had sounded the alarm three weeks ago, warning: “We are not going to wait for the accident to happen to see those responsible shed crocodile tears”.
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