Former Thessaly governor stays mum at Tempe accident inquiry
A former Thessaly regional governor, Kostas Agorastos, invoked his right to remain silent on Thursday at the parliamentary investigative committee tasked with probing the fatal train accident in Tempe, central Greece, on February 2023, citing his status as a defendant in the ongoing case.
“I declare to you that I exercise, according to article 104 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the right to remain silent, reserving my right to provide my required explanations before the judicial authorities where this case is pending,” he told lawmakers at the panel, before being dismissed.
Agorastos, is to be prosecuted over charges of dereliction of duty and other misdemeanors in relation to works conducted at the site of the deadly Tempe train disaster, the region’s prosecutor’s office has announced.
He is accused by an association of victims and survivors of the crash of giving the go-ahead for the covering of the site of the deadly head-on collision with aggregate stones.
The covering of the site prevented experts from investigating the scene of the crash, as the wrecked train cars were removed from the site, head of the association Maria Karystianou testified before the same parliamentary committee in January.
Karystianou, whose daughter was killed in the train crash, testified that she and other victims had been pointing to Agorastos’ alleged culpability since summer of 2023, and that he had told her in private that he was “executing orders” from above when he had the area covered up.
The head-on collision occurred late night on 28 February 2023 when a northbound passenger train was mistakenly routed into the southbound track used by an oncoming cargo train. Fifty-seven passengers died, including both train drivers.
