Friday, March 10, 2023 11:47 (GMT+7)
(CPV) – Greek prosecutors on March 9 charged three more railway officials in connection with the country's worst train accident on February 28.
A railway supervisor in charge of shift work has been charged with allegedly putting an inexperienced stationmaster on the night shift during a busy holiday season. Two other stationmasters have also been charged with leaving their posts early. All three face charges of negligent manslaughter, causing serious bodily injury and disrupting traffic, and could face life in prison if convicted.
Days earlier, the station master on duty at the time of the accident, who is accused of mistakenly guiding two trains onto the same track, was also charged.
In connection with this unfortunate incident, on March 9, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis convened the first cabinet meeting since the incident and pledged “full transparency in the investigation to clarify the errors” in this tragic accident. Mr. Mitsotakis also pledged “immediate action” to improve the situation in the railway sector and upgrade the safety system.
Nine days after a train crash killed 57 people, crowds gathered for a vigil near the crash site. Most were relatives of those killed, carrying portraits and placing candles among the stones along the tracks. Public anger has also grown since the crash. On March 8, people took to the streets in the largest protest since the crash, calling for justice for the victims and the government to resign. Protests continued on Thursday, with hundreds of university students gathering in Athens and Thessaloniki.
The accident occurred on the night of February 28 (local time) when a train carrying 350 passengers traveling from the capital Athens to the city of Thessaloniki, northern Greece, collided head-on with a freight train from Thessaloniki to the city of Larissa. The collision caused the first four carriages to derail, two other carriages to be almost completely deformed and one carriage to catch fire. Many of the victims were university students returning to class after a short break.
Greek Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned on March 1 after a serious train collision. In his resignation announcement, Mr. Karamanlis stressed that he needed to take responsibility for "long-standing failures" in repairing a railway system that is not suitable for the 21st century./.
PG (according to France24/AP, The Guardian)
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