Tens of thousands take to Greece’s streets demanding justice for deadly train crash

Tens of thousands of men, women and youngsters took to the streets in Athens, Thessaloniki and other parts of Greece on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the country’s deadliest rail disaster and protest what is perceived as a systematic attempt to obscure the circumstances of the tragedy and cover up responsibilities.

The head-on collision between a freight and passenger train at Tempe in central Greece on the night of February 28, 2023 shocked the country. A confirmed 57 people died, many of them university students heading back home after a long weekend.

Among the crowd gathered in front of Parliament at Athens’ Syntagma Square, were relatives of the victims.

“We are here to thank all the people who came to commemorate our children, who are in Heaven,” said Pavlos Aslanidis, who lost his 27-year-old son in the crash. He held photographs of the crash site and described how all that was recovered of his son were ashes in a closed coffin.

“We are making this effort so no more children are lost; we are here to save the next ones. We are a group of parents chasing the case and they are blocking our way,” he said, referring to an association of relatives of victims of the crash.

The association has launched a campaign to ask Parliament to activate an article of the Greek Constitution, which gives citizens the right to introduce a bill amending the one protecting ministers and MPs from prosecution. The online petition that they started currently has close to a million signatures.

“We must stop parliamentary immunity – this is what destroys our country – and justice must be independent,” Aslanidis said.

Churches across the country rang their bells 57 times on Wednesday morning and students wrote the names of the dead in red on the ground in front of the Parliament, surrounded by riot police. Black balloons and a banner reading “Murderers” hung in front of the House.

“I’m not sure how far we still are from the truth, but I know that we will get there no matter how difficult it is,” said Christoforos Konstantinidis, who lost his mother, Vasiliki Florou, in the train accident.

“We take strength from the protests across Greece,” he added.

Thousands of demonstrators also gathered outside the downtown Athens headquarters of the country’s rail operator, Hellenic Train, and spray-painted “Our lives” on the asphalt as riot police vans and a water cannon stood sentry at the company’s entrance on Syngrou Avenue.

There were brief clashes between police and protesters both in Athens and Thessaloniki.

Relatives and friends of the victims also gathered at the scene of the rail crash at Tempe, near the city of Larissa. Candles and flowers were placed on the site, along with photographs of the dead and a banner reading: “A crime without punishment at Tempe, the souls demand justice.”

In a televised address, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his conviction that those responsible would be held accountable.

“As a government and political system, we must acknowledge the collective failure behind this tragedy,” he said.

“As a prime minister, as a citizen and as a father, I share the country’s grief,” he added.

“One year later, the memory of all of us cannot escape from the unspeakable tragedy in Tempe,” said New Democracy MP Kostas A. Karamanlis in a statement.

Karamanlis was transport and infrastructure minister when the collision happened. He resigned after the crash, but was again included on the New Democracy ticket and re-elected MP in Serres, northern Greece in June’s national elections five months later.