Tens of thousands of Greeks seek justice for victims of Tempe train crash

In Athens, tens of thousands of protesters have gathered outside the country’s parliament to demand justice for the railroad accident victims, who were nearly two years ago.

One of the largest demonstrations to be held in the capital in recent years came on Sunday, days after a recording from local media suggested some of the 57 victims might have survived the collision but died in a fire of an unknown origin that persisted for more than an hour following the collision.

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.

Just before midnight on February 28, 2023, a freight train and a passenger train carrying students collided near Tempe, outside the city of Larissa. A judicial investigation is still being conducted.

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.

Many of the victims’ deaths have not been identified many years later because their families have accused authorities of trying to conceal 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. Because that’s what society’s entire society wants, let the crime in Tempe be the beginning and justice be served as it should be.

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. What caused it is not known.

Questions surround the cargo of the freight train have become a result of increasingly debunked assertions that electricity cables or oils used in the passenger train caused the fire.

The centre-right government, which was re-elected after the crash, has denied the accusations.

The relatives, who claim that under his leadership, the Greek presidency was proposed by former Greek parliament speaker Constantine Tassoulas last week, further enraged them.

“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.

Following the largely peaceful demonstration in Athens, when police officers fired tear gas to disperse some of the crowd, brief clashes broke out between riot police and a number of protesters.