Criminal charges against three more people

At least three new people have so far been placed in the the frame of criminal responsibility for last week’s tragic train collision in Tempe ahead of the convening of the Plenary of the Court of Appeals, which is expected to upgrade the investigations by assigning to two appellants-investigators.

According to reports, the investigating authorities will soon proceed to file new criminal charges, as there is aggravating evidence for other individuals apart from the stationmaster who has already accepted his responsibility. 

In particular, according to reports, the stationmaster, also implicated the inspector and his fellow stationmasters, with investigators gathering relevant incriminating material.

The inspector is under scrutiny for placing the inexperienced station master on duty. Evidence is also being compiled about one of the station masters of the evening shift who was supposed to stay at his post till 11 p.m. but did not and and the central officer in charge of shifts at the critical railway posts. The central officer is the one who gives the general directions so that the safety of the movement of passengers and the traffic of trains can be ensured.

The inquest proceedings are also directed at the possible responsibility of driver of the fatal train, who died in the tragic accident. Investigators say that he should have pointed out his mistake to the inexperienced station master and sought clarification on the wrong course of the train.

The findings of the experts appointed by the prosecutor’s order will reportedly be submitted to the investigating authorities later on Wednesday and will include a full and detailed assessment of the conversations between the station masters before the fatal collision, the electronic recordings of the train’s course, the movement of the freight train and the movements of the trains that preceded the tragic incident.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Isidoros Dogiakos, who already on Monday ordered an investigation into the unfinished projects on the railway network, has ordered the Thessaloniki Prosecutor’s Office to send him the case file that was formed in 2017, when a train derailed with four dead, including one of the two drivers. The second engineer, who survived, was indicted as being responsible for the tragedy but was acquitted in court in 2022.