Protests erupt in Greece over nation's deadliest rail disaster as PM tenders apology

Protests have intensified in Greece days after the country’s deadliest rail disaster, as thousands of students took to the streets in several cities and some protesters clashed with police in Athens. Clashes also occurred in Greece’s second-largest city, Thessaloniki. 

At least 57 people, including several university students, died when a passenger train slammed into a freight carrier just before midnight on February 28 (local time). The government has blamed human error and a railway official faces manslaughter charges. The accident at Tempe, 380 kilometres (235 miles) north of Athens shocked the nation and highlighted safety shortcomings in the small but dated rail network.

In Athens, riot police outside parliament fired tear gas and flash grenades to disperse a small number of protesters who hurled petrol bombs at them, set fire to garbage bins, and challenged police cordons. No arrests or injuries were reported. The protests called by left-wing and student groups were fueled by anger at the perceived lack of safety measures in Greece’s rail network, reported AP.

On Sunday, railway unions organized a protest rally in central Athens attended by about 12,000 people according to authorities. Five people were arrested and seven police officers were injured when a group of more than 200 masked, black-clad individuals started throwing pieces of marble, rocks, bottles and firebombs at officers, who gave chase along a central avenue in the city while using tear gas and stun grenades.

In Thessaloniki, about 3,000 people attended two protest rallies. Several of the crash victims were students at the city’s Aristotle University, Greece’s largest, with over 50,000 students.

Greek PM tenders apology

Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis apologised for any responsibility Greece’s government may bear for the tragedy. The prime minister promised a swift investigation of the collision and said the new Greek transportation minister would release a safety improvement plan. Once a new parliament is in place, a commission also will be named to investigate decades of mismanagement of the country’s railway system, Mitsotakis said.

In an initial statement Wednesday, Mitsotakis had said the crash resulted from a “tragic human error.” Opposition parties pounced on the remark, accusing the prime minister of trying to cover up the state’s role and making an inexperienced stationmaster a scapegoat.

“I owe everyone, and especially the victims’ relatives, a big apology, both personal and on behalf of all who governed the country for many years,” Mitsotakis wrote Sunday on Facebook. “In 2023, it is inconceivable that two trains move in different directions on the same track and no one notices. We cannot, we do not want to, and we must not hide behind the human error.”

(with AP inputs)