Train derailment in Greece: Thousands take to the streets in angry protests

Key points
  • The train derailment occurred on 28 February when a freight train collided head-on with a passenger train, killing 57 people.
  • More than 65,000 demonstrators took to the streets across the country to protest the train derailment near downtown Larissa.
  • 40,000 people took to the streets of Athens waving banners reading “This is not an accident, this is a crime.”
Greek police fired tear gas at firebombing demonstrators outside the parliament building on Wednesday as tens of thousands of demonstrators protested the country’s worst railway tragedy and called on the prime minister to resign.
The accident occurred on February 28, when a freight train collided head-on with a passenger train carrying mostly students, killing 57 people and leaving 14 in hospital.

The biggest protests were in Athens, where more than 40,000 people took to the streets waving banners reading “This is not an accident, this is a crime” and “Either of us could have been on this train.”

Outside the parliament building, dozens of masked and black-clad youths threw Molotov cocktails and stones at police officers, who fired tear gas in response, an AFP correspondent reported. The demonstrators also set fire to a van a few blocks away.
In Thessaloniki, Greece’s second city, riot police fired tear gas at stone-throwing demonstrators near the local railway station.

More than 65,000 demonstrators took to the streets across the country to protest the train derailment near downtown Larisa, police said.

Firefighter pouring water on burning van

A fireman pours water on a burning car after clashes between demonstrators and riot police during a protest in defense of the victims of a train accident in central Athens. The biggest protests were in Athens, where more than 40,000 people took to the streets waving banners reading “This is not an accident, this is a crime” and “Either of us could have been on this train.” Source: AARP / Petros Yannakouris

“I’m here to pay my respects to the dead, but also to express my anger and frustration,” Niki Siuta, a 54-year-old civil engineer, a protester in Athens, told AFP. “This government must go.”

Fifteen people were arrested in Athens for violence related to the demonstrations.

Government employees leave

Along with the protesters, Greek civil servants staged a 24-hour strike, while doctors, teachers and transport workers also went on strike.
“This government prefers to spend money on the police and the army, but not on our security,” said Thanassis to Oikonomou, a striking worker and bus union representative.

Many protesters waved signs reading “Call me when you get there,” a rallying call to demonstrators that reportedly comes from a phone conversation between a mother and her son shortly before he died in a plane crash.

Protests continued into the evening, and several thousand demonstrators gathered in Athens and Thessaloniki.
There are growing calls for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is running for re-election this spring, to resign over a tragedy that has cast a bright light on decades of government mismanagement of the rail network.
A stationmaster who confessed to forgetting to reroute one of the trains was arrested and charged, but the government was criticized for trying to shift the blame mainly to him.

Critics say he was inexperienced and left to work alone during the busy holiday season and accuse officials of failing to implement online security reforms.

Train collision in Greece

A crane clears debris as firefighters and rescue workers work after a collision in Tempe, about 376 kilometers north of Athens, near the city of Larissa, Greece, Thursday, March 2, 2023. Source: AARP / Vaggelis Kusioras

Focus on train safety

The Greek transport minister resigned on March 1, and Mr Mitsotakis apologized to the families of the victims, promising to look into the causes of the incident, and launched a series of public appearances in an apparent attempt to calm his anger.
The prime minister and other politicians suspended campaigning after the tragedy. There is now speculation that elections expected in April may be delayed until May.

On Wednesday, Mr Mitsotakis met with EU officials, including the executive director of the bloc’s railway agency and the European Commission’s land transport director, who were invited to Athens, the prime minister’s office said.

European officials provided some “first thoughts” on improving network security, and Mitsotakis said Greece was “taking full advantage” of their experience, his office added.
Giorgos Herapetritis, Greece’s acting transport minister, said that rail passenger traffic could resume by the end of March.
Speaking at a press conference, he also admitted that if the security systems were fully automated, “the accident would not have happened.”

Political life will resume on Thursday at a cabinet meeting after a period of national mourning, but the prime minister appears to be in no hurry to decide on the upcoming elections.