Greek police conflict with protesters on second anniversary of rail catastrophe

Riot police fired volleys of tear fuel, stun grenades, and water cannons at protesters, hurling gasoline bombs and smashed-up paving stones in Athens Friday throughout an enormous demonstration marking the second anniversary of Greece’s worst rail catastrophe that has turn out to be an emblem of institutional failure.

A whole lot of hundreds of individuals from all walks of life took to the streets in cities throughout the nation as a part of a basic strike referred to as to demand justice for the 57 individuals killed on Feb. 28, 2023, when a passenger practice collided head-on with a freight practice.

Friday’s protests have been among the many largest since Greece’s debt disaster a decade in the past. They have been fueled by public resentment towards the conservative authorities’s perceived lack of accountability after the catastrophe and the sluggish tempo of the investigation.

Violence additionally broke out on the fringes of a protest within the northern metropolis of Thessaloniki, the place dozens of hooded protesters broke away from the primary rally to conflict with riot police.

In Athens, repeated rounds of clashes close to Parliament left at the very least 20 individuals requiring medical consideration, authorities stated. Police stated 120 individuals have been detained, with 27 of them arrested. Confrontations spilled over into close by streets, with teams of hooded protesters coming into an archaeological website close to the traditional Roman monument of Hadrian’s Arch and pelting riot police with rocks.

Unions referred to as a basic strike in help of the mass mobilization led by the victims’ relations. Critics say politicians needs to be held accountable for the failures that led to the collision, however to this point, solely rail officers have been charged with any crimes.

The catastrophe in Tempe – the worst railway accident in Greece’s historical past – left dozens injured and uncovered deficiencies in transportation infrastructure.

“The complete reality should come to mild, and people accountable, regardless of how excessive their place, should be held accountable,” stated Yannis Panagopoulos, president of the Normal Confederation of Greek Employees, the nation’s largest labor union, which has backed Friday’s strike.

Flights and rail providers have been canceled, ferries have been halted, and public transportation was severely disrupted. Companies and public providers have additionally been affected. Many shops in Athens and different cities closed, leaving messages of solidarity for the victims’ households of their entrance home windows.

Athens municipal employee Costas Reintzopoulos stated the rail crash had highlighted longstanding calls for for safer working circumstances. Eleven of the victims within the Tempe catastrophe have been railway staff.

“Day by day, there’s a demand to know the reality about what occurred, and on daily basis, there’s a demand for higher security measures within the office. That could be a key cause why this stays related,” he stated. “We do not wish to mourn extra lifeless individuals who depart within the morning to go to work, and we do not know if they’re going to come again.”

Memorial providers occurred at Orthodox church buildings in Athens for the victims, together with many college college students getting back from an extended weekend.

Their households had urged protesters to stay peaceable and maintain the deal with remembrance quite than politics.

But the demonstrations have created a politically precarious second for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ authorities.

His conservatives preserve a robust lead within the polls. Nonetheless, public dissatisfaction over the Tempe catastrophe has led to surging help for anti-establishment events on each the left and proper. Opposition leaders, who’re struggling to realize traction, are weighing whether or not to place ahead a censure movement.

Mitsotakis promised to proceed work to enhance rail security, including: “Each Greek participates on this mourning, united beneath the frequent demand for reality.”

The mountainous nation is essentially road-reliant, and the Greek railway system is centered round a single route between Athens and Thessaloniki, which made the collision tougher for a lot of to grasp.

The long-awaited report from the crash investigation, launched Thursday, blamed human error, outdated infrastructure, and main systemic failures for the head-on collision.

The aftermath was marked by scenes of chaos, with surviving passengers describing tumbling carriages, fires, and smashed home windows as they scrambled to flee.

It was adopted by the grotesque process of sufferer restoration and identification, as many our bodies have been severely burned or dismembered. Funerals have been held throughout quite a few communities all through Greece, many streamed or broadcast stay, turning non-public grief right into a shared nationwide expertise.

Hours after the collision, Maria Krystianou rushed to the scene of the tragedy to seek for her lacking daughter, 21-year-old Maria-Thomai, because the practice vehicles nonetheless smoldered.

After a two-day wait, Maria-Thomai’s loss of life was lastly confirmed with a DNA match.

Krystianou, a 52-year-old pediatrician, has since turn out to be a number one determine within the marketing campaign to carry politicians to account for the crash. This week, she publicly thanked unions and associations that joined the protests, together with docs at public hospitals and legal professionals and judges who will maintain a minute’s silence in courts Friday.

“For these of us who had our youngsters and family members on that practice, part of us stays with them and can by no means return. The unrelenting ache and the unimaginable actuality are with us eternally,” Krystianou advised a crowd exterior parliament. Pointing to the protesters, she added: “That is for you, my lady, and for these of us who by no means made it.”