Tens of thousands of people gathered today in the central square “Syntagma“ in Athens for one of the largest demonstrations in recent years demanding justice for the 2023 Tempe train crash, which claimed the lives of 57 people and left dozens injured, the electronic edition of the Greek newspaper "Kathimerini" reported, BTA reported.
According to information from the Greek publication, a total of 97 cities in Greece and 13 cities around the world have joined the protest actions.
The train crash occurred shortly before midnight on February 28, 2023 in Tempe near Larissa, Central Greece, in a head-on collision between two trains, a passenger and a freight train. Most of the victims were young people - students returning to Thessaloniki universities.
The two trains, one of which was carrying over 350 passengers, had been traveling on the same track for 19 minutes without any alarm system being activated before the collision, recalls Agence France-Presse. The causes of the incident were cited as failures in the railway network and "human error", mainly by the traffic controller on duty at Larissa station, against whom charges have been brought.
The protest today was organized by the association of the families of the victims of the accident and was under the slogan "I have no air", writes "Kathimerini".
The demonstrations come after audio evidence leaked earlier this week suggested that around 30 of the 57 victims of the crash were still alive after the trains collided. The audio recordings suggest that these passengers died later, possibly from suffocation or burns, as the collision caused a large explosion and fire. The cause of the fire is still unknown.
The audio recordings were made after the collision was reported to the emergency number 112 and came from the phones of some of the students who were returning by train after a long holiday break. In them, students can be heard screaming for help and gasping for air.
According to a new report by an expert funded by the victims' families, which was leaked last week, the freight train was carrying "illegal" cargo, AFP writes. According to the report, the cargo included explosive chemicals that caused a fire during the collision and led to many victims suffocating due to lack of oxygen.
According to information from the Greek police, quoted by Agence France-Presse, the initial number of protesters in Athens today was 12 thousand, then increased to "more than 30 thousand". The total number of demonstrators in the Greek capital and Thessaloniki, according to police data, was 40 thousand people.
Many streets in the center of Athens were closed to traffic this afternoon due to the protest marches, the agency also notes.
The demonstration was marred by gunfire between protesters and riot police in the capital. A group of protesters also threw Molotov cocktails at riot police, who in turn used tear gas and stun grenades before the demonstrators began to leave the area, according to a protester who told the agency.
“I would like to thank all those people who responded to this call today, because for two years those responsible for the murder of our children have been hiding,“ Mirela Rousi, who lost her son in the attack, told AFP in Athens.
Demonstrators continued to flock to the central square in the Greek capital long after the protest's announced start time - 12 p.m. local (and Bulgarian) time, "Kathimerini" reported.
The crowd did not reflect a particular ideological group, and the protest was largely silent and was sometimes interrupted by chants of "Murderers! Murderers!”.
According to information from "Kathimerini", the dense crowd made movement almost impossible, leading to one woman fainting.