Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis apologised on Sunday for any responsibility the government may bear for the deadliest train crash in the country’s history, AP News has reported.
At least 57 people were killed when a passenger train and a freight train collided last Tuesday at Tempi, north of Athens.
In an initial statement on Wednesday, Mitsotakis said the crash resulted from a “tragic human error,” causing opposition parties to accuse the Prime Minister of trying to cover up the state’s role.
In response via a statement on Facebook on Sunday, Mitsotakis wrote: “I owe everyone, and especially the victims’ relatives, a big apology, both personal and on behalf of all who governed the country for many years.”
“In 2023, it is inconceivable that two trains move in different directions on the same track and no one notices. We cannot, we do not want to, and we must not hide behind the human error,” he added.
The Greek Prime Minister promised a swift investigation of the collision and said the new Greek transportation minister would release a safety improvement plan.
Funerals begin in Greece:
The funeral for the first of the nearly 60 train crash victims was held on Friday as families began receiving the remains of their loved ones following a harrowing identification process.
Athina Katsara, a 34-year-old mother of an infant boy, was buried in her home town of Katerini, in the north of Greece. Her injured husband was in hospital and unable to attend.
On Saturday, it was Iphigenia Mitska, who was in her early 20s. She was buried in northern Giannitsa.
Over the coming days, others, many of them students, will also be laid to rest at the end of a three-day official mourning period for the nation.
Violence erupts at protests in Greece:
This apology comes as clashes have erupted briefly between police and a group of demonstrators in Syntagma Square, central Athens on Sunday during a protest by thousands of students and railway workers over the deadly train crash.
“That crime won’t be forgotten,” protesters shouted as they released black balloons into the sky.
A small group of protesters hurled petrol bombs at police and lit rubbish bins on fire. Police responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades, with the protesters quickly dispersing to nearby streets.
Station master before court:
Amid mounting protests across Greece, the 59-year-old station master, who was charged over the deadly train crash, appeared in front of a magistrate in Larissa over the weekend.
The station master faces multiple charges including involuntary manslaughter and unintentionally causing mass grievous bodily harm.
On Saturday his lawyer, Stefanos Pantzartzidis, requested that he be given more time to prepare his client’s defence, citing the emergence of “new factors.”
Prior to the station master giving evidence, Pantzartzidis had told reporters: “He assumes the blame proportionate to him.”
According to Ekathimerini, the station master was remanded pending trial. The 59-year-old finished his deposition before an examining magistrate and a prosecutor on Sunday night.
READ MORE: Greek communities in Australia send condolences after Greece’s deadly train crash.
Source: AP News, The Guardian, ABC News, Ekathimerini.
