Thousands of people took to the streets in Athens, Thessaloniki, Larissa and elsewhere. Protests are also taking place at the office of the railway company. Many gathered shouted slogans such as “murderers” in the direction of the railway company.
The railway workers’ union believes that the tragedy could have been prevented if funds had been invested in modernizing the system.
Debates continue in Greek society about the causes of the disaster. The head of the station had to appear before the court in the city of Larissa on Saturday. However, his lawyer Stefan Pancarcidis asked for it to be postponed until Sunday.
“There are new circumstances in the case that we were not aware of. This new information is very serious and has led us to request a change in the date of the court appearance. It is now scheduled for Sunday. Taking advantage of these circumstances is extremely important.”
The station master has pleaded guilty to allowing two trains to be on the same tracks for several kilometers. If convicted, this man faces up to life in prison.
However, information is also emerging about other problems that could have led to the disaster. The station master is very inexperienced. He started working in this role just over a month ago, having previously completed a short preparatory course. In addition, he worked his shift alone, without the supervision of experienced colleagues, even though it was known that there was heavy train traffic at that time.
Therefore, it is assumed that charges could also be brought against the leading employees of the railway company, who were responsible for the organization of work.
Rescue services are still working at the scene. The train cars are lifted out of the ditches and taken away. Ten people have still not been found and identified. Many bodies are mutilated beyond recognition, especially those near the restaurant car, where a fire broke out after the collision.
“We broke the window, which was already broken. Then we threw the suitcases so that we could jump on them later. And then carefully, one by one, first the women and the more seriously injured and then we, who were less injured, jumped into the ditch from three, four meters high, where we landed on the suitcases,” Andreas Alikaniotis, who suffered only minor injuries in the train disaster, tells journalists.
CONTEXT:
The train disaster happened on Tuesday evening near the city of Larissa in the Thessaly region, 380 kilometers north of the capital Athens. As a result of the collision, four carriages of the passenger train derailed. The first two wagons were almost completely destroyed in the disaster, at least three wagons caught fire. There were about 350 passengers on board the passenger train, which was traveling from the capital Athens to Thessaloniki in the north of the country.
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