Fifty-seven people were killed when a freight train and a passenger train packed with students collided in February 2023.
Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied outside Greece’s parliament in Athens to demand justice for the victims of the country’s worst railway disaster nearly two years ago.
Sunday’s demonstration, one of the biggest to be held in the capital in recent years, came days after after local media released an audio recording suggesting that some of the 57 victims might have survived the collision but died in a fire of yet unknown origin that burned for more than an hour following the crash.
Protests were also held in dozens of other cities in Greece and abroad, with participants rallying under the “I have no oxygen” slogan, which echoed a woman’s last words in a call to emergency services.
Attendees in Athens held banners reading “We won’t forget” while chants of “Murderers, murderers” reverberated around Syntagma Square.
A judicial investigation is still in progress over the collision of a freight train and a passenger train packed with students near Tempe, outside the city of Larissa, just before midnight on February 28, 2023.
The crash, on a line linking Athens with Greece’s second-largest city Thessaloniki, triggered angry protests across the country, where it was seen as the result of widespread neglect of the railways after a decade-long financial crisis.
Two years later, the cause of death of many of the victims has not been determined as their families have accused authorities of trying to cover up evidence.
“Many thanks to all the Greeks, wherever they are, for their support,” Maria Karystianou – a representative of the association of families of Tempe victims, who lost her 20-year-old daughter in the disaster – told reporters.
“Our voice says one thing: no crime will go unpunished, ever again,” she said. “Let the crime at Tempe be the beginning and justice is served, as it should be, because that’s what the entire society wants.”
Fire’s cause unclear
Ilias Papangelis, who lost his 18-year-old daughter in the crash, told the crowd in Athens: “Two years after the tragedy, no one has been punished, no one is in prison.”
According to a report by experts hired by families, the crash led to a huge fireball. It is unclear what caused it.
A growing number of experts have ruled out assumptions that electricity cables or oils used in the passenger train caused the fire, raising questions over the freight train’s cargo.
The centre-right government, which was re-elected after the crash, has denied the accusations.
Its proposal of former parliament speaker Constantine Tassoulas for the Greek presidency last week further angered the relatives, who say that under his watch parliament failed to investigate any political responsibility.
“We don’t know what caused the explosion, what the [freight] train was carrying,” said Nikos Plakias, who lost his two daughters and a niece in the accident.
“We will always have questions … and if we need to reach the European courts, we will,” he added.
Brief clashes broke out between riot police and a number of protesters after the largely peaceful demonstration in Athens, with police officers firing tear gas to disperse some in the crowd.
