As the one-year anniversary of Greece’s most deadly rail disaster approached, tens of thousands of men, women and young people flooded the streets of Athens, Thessaloniki, and many other parts of Greece on Wednesday, February 28 to protest.
Ekathimerini reported that many of the protestors rallied as they believed the Greek government has attempted to cover up who was responsible and cover up the details of what happened at Tempi last year.
The tragic incident involved two trains colliding head-on at Tempi in central Greece on February 28, 2023. It left 57 people dead, which were mostly young university students heading back home from a long weekend.
Amongst the protestors gathered on Wednesday outside of Parliament at Athens’ Syntagma Square were relatives of the victims.
One of the fathers, Pavlos Aslanidis, who lost his 27-year-old son in the crash, attended. Holding photographs of his son, and the crash site, he described that the only thing they could find of his son to put in his coffin were his ashes.
“We are here to thank all the people who came to commemorate our children, who are in Heaven,” Mr Aslanidis said.
“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.”
As well as the protests, churches around Greece also rang their bells 57 times on Wednesday, and students wrote the names of the dead in red on the ground out the front of the Parliament, where riot police surrounded.
Black balloons and a banner that said “Murderers” also hung in front of Parliament.
One other man, Christoforos Konstantinidis, who lost his mother Vasiliki Florou in the train crash, was also present and made comment.
“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,” Mr Konstantinidis said.
“We take strength from the protests across Greece.”
Many protestors also gathered in front of the headquarters of Hellenic Train, which was the company responsible for the trains. People were seen spray painting “Our lives” on the asphalt as riot police vans and a water cannon stood by the company’s entrance on Syngrou Avenue.
Brief clashes were also reported between police and protesters both in Athens and Thessaloniki.
People displayed candles, flowers, photographs, and a banner reading “A crime without punishment at Tempe, the souls demand justice” outside the Parliament.
Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed that those responsible would be held accountable in a televised video.
“As a government and political system, we must acknowledge the collective failure behind this tragedy,” Mr Mitsotakis said.
“As a prime minister, as a citizen and as a father, I share the country’s grief.”
The former transport and infrastructure minister Kostas A Karamanlis, who was serving during the time of the crash and resigned after it took place also released a statement.
“One year later, the memory of all of us cannot escape from the unspeakable tragedy in Tempe,” Mr Karamanlis said.
Source: Ekathimerini.
