Tuesday’s deadly train crash has sparked anger in Greece. As rescuers search for more bodies, or perhaps a miracle, among the charred wreckage of the two trains that collided head-on, Greek public transport workers began a nationwide strike on Thursday, news agencies reported. According to the unions, the Greek authorities have ignored repeated calls for improved safety standards.
Around 11 p.m. local time, a freight train and a passenger train with nearly four hundred passengers collided head-on on Tuesday. It is now certain that 46 people did not survive the accident near the city of Larissa, about 300 kilometers north of the capital Athens. The death toll is expected to rise even further: ten more people have not yet been found, according to the Greek authorities. Many students are among the dead.
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A day after what was the deadliest Greek train disaster ever, protests broke out in Athens and Thessaloniki. In the capital, angry citizens threw stones at the headquarters of the involved private rail company Hellenic Train, which falls under Italy’s national railway company. Riot police felt compelled to use tear gas to disperse the crowd.
In the search for an explanation and a guilty party, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has ordered an independent investigation. The transport minister resigned all his duties on Wednesday and the Larissa station master, who puts passing trains on the right track, was questioned by police on Wednesday. According to Greek media, there was no question of a technical problem, Prime Minister Mitsotakis previously called the accident the result of a “tragic human error”.