The commotion continues in Greece after the train accident on March 1. So far, 57 deaths have been recorded, while rescue teams continue to search for victims among the rubble. Students and railway unionists have taken to the streets to protest and demand responsibility from the Government for the deficiencies of the Greek railway system.
His family and friends, dressed in black, knelt and wept in front of his coffin. Athina Katsara was one of the victims of the Larissa train accident, the deadliest in Greece, and she was only 34 years old. This March 3, her funeral was the first of the more than 50 deaths left by the accident.
The ceremony was in Katerini, Katsara’s hometown. Her husband, also involved in the accident, could not attend because he was hospitalized.
Parallel to the first burial, many were still waiting for news from their relatives who were traveling on the train. And it is that the process of recognition of victims is turning out to be complex for the Greek authorities due to the force of the frontal collision and the fire that broke out afterwards. Most of them have been recognized through DNA tests.
On this third day since the accident, the rescue teams continue to examine the remains and search for those who are still missing. Mirella Ruci is still waiting for news of her 22-year-old son Denis, who was traveling on the passenger train.
“My son is not on any official list and I don’t have any information. I ask anyone who may have seen him, in car 5, seat 22, to contact me if they may have seen him,” Ruci said, excited. , to the ‘AP’ agency.
“They have killed him, that is what has happened. They are murderers, all of them,” said Panos Routsi, father of the disappeared.
His son had gone to Athens to visit some friends. Shortly before the accident, he had told them that he would be late and that he would call. “I’m still waiting,” Routsi said, standing in front of the Larissa hospital.
More than 350 people were traveling on the passenger train, many university students returning from Athens to Thessaloniki after a long weekend for a holiday. The passenger railway ran for several kilometers on the same track as a freight train, apparently after the stationmaster in the central city of Larissa failed to divert one of the trains. Until, finally, they collided.
Reason why the Greek Executive has defined the causes of the accident as a “tragic human error”. The station chief will be prosecuted for manslaughter and negligence. He has already recognized his responsibility and must testify before the Prosecutor’s Office this Saturday. But many, like his lawyer, say that this is a problem that goes much further.
“My client has assumed his share of responsibility. But we should not focus on a specific tree when there is an entire forest behind it,” said Stefanos Pantzartzidis, the defendant’s lawyer.
With a very old rail system, this accident has only highlighted the safety deficiencies of the Greek train network and the danger to which its passengers have been exposed for years.
Protests over a poor rail system
In addition to being shocked by the news, many Greeks are very outraged. And it is that preliminary reports leave no room for doubt: the Greek train network does not have the necessary security mechanisms to reduce the impacts of human error.
“An accident that could be seen coming”, this is how some sources close to the government have described it, according to the ‘AFP’ agency.
In Larissa and in Athens, the Greek capital, hundreds of protesters took to the streets to demand concrete actions from the Government so that this does not happen again. And, also, to point them out as guilty beyond the station manager.
“Murderers”, read some banners. Others raised white balloons in memory of the victims, blocking the road in front of Parliament for a minute’s silence.
Another banner read “Call me when you arrive,” a phrase that has become one of the protest slogans.
And it is that many students feel that the next ones could be them, when trying to return home for the weekend or going anywhere.
“If it happened on the busiest train network in Greece, it could happen on anyone. We want responsibilities,” said one of the protesters.
Stelios Sourlas, a lawyer representing a 23-year-old crash victim, also says the responsibility for the deaths goes beyond the station manager.
“The station master may be the main person in charge… but the responsibility is also broader: there are the railway operators and the public officials whose job it was to ensure that security measures and procedures were applied correctly,” Sourlas told the Reuters agency.
For their part, the railway workers began their second day of strike. Many still do not understand how such a tragedy could have happened after “years of warnings.”
From the unions they affirm that the maintenance of the network is deficient, despite the improvements introduced in recent years to increase the speed of the trains.
“The federation has been sounding the alarm for many years, but it has never been taken seriously,” said the main railway union, which demanded a meeting with the new transport minister to try to solve the deficiencies in the train system.
For them, there are three problems with the 2,552 kilometer rail network: poor management, deficient maintenance and obsolete equipment. A thesis backed by experts.
“The responsibility must be assumed by all those who have managed the modernization of the network,” Hasiotis told ‘AFP’.
And, from the union, they claim to have evidence of negligent acts and warn that they plan to make them public.
“There are many documents that we will make public. The electronic safeguards have not worked since the year 2000, the control of the trains continues to be done ‘manually’,” said Kostas Genidounias, president of the train drivers’ union.
This accident has uncovered a network of bad practices. In addition to the poor condition of the trains and tracks, the state companies in charge of their maintenance have a shortage of personnel.
In recent years, attempts have been made to improve and modernize the railway, but they have been insufficient and incomplete.
In the midst of this tragedy and controversy, the center-right government of Greece was expected to call national elections this Friday for the beginning of April. However, the national mood threatens to delay the electoral process.
With Reuters, AP and AFP
