Search operations are underway after a head-on collision of a freight train with a passenger train carrying over 350 people killed dozens of people on February 28, the country's worst-ever rail disaster, in the Tempi Valley near Larissa on March 2, 2023. (Photo by Sakis MITROLIDIS / AFP)
Athens: Thousands of protesters on Friday held new demonstrations in major Greek cities to demand justice for the victims and families of the country's worst rail disaster in which 57 people died in 2023.
The protests mainly attended by school pupils has an overarching slogan of 'I have no oxygen', a reference to the final moments of the passengers trapped on the mangled train.
On February 28, 2003, a train from Athens to Thessaloniki carrying more than 350 passengers collided head-on with a freight train near the central city of Larissa.
Survivors described being trapped among smashed carriages and burning debris as the train keeled over.
Investigators appointed by the victims' families claim the freight train was carrying an illegal and unreported load of explosive chemicals, which contributed to the high death toll.
They have said some 30 people survived the initial crash but were then killed by explosions.
In the two years since the disaster, the administration of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has faced a torrent of accusations of negligence and criminal wrongdoing.
Mitsotakis acknowledged in a televised interview last month that some victims "died on the train not as a result of the collision... that is why (establishing) the cause of the fire is significant."
Tens of thousands of protesters last month turned out at rallies in Athens, Thessaloniki and other major cities.
Several unions have called for strikes and protests on the tragedy's second anniversary on February 28.
The two trains had been travelling toward each other on the same track for 19 minutes without triggering any alarms.
In the aftermath the accident was blamed on faulty equipment and human error, while the local station master was charged with negligent homicide.
In his January 29 interview, Mitsotakis denied there was any attempt at a cover-up and refused any suggestion that he should resign.
The train's Italian-owned operator Hellenic Trail has insisted that to its knowledge there were no explosive chemicals on board a freight train.
The company has said the train was carrying sheets of metal, steel wires, food products, and empty containers.
The Athens prosecutors' office has summoned Hellenic Train's former CEO Maurizio Capotorto on suspicions of giving "false testimony" before a parliamentary investigative commission last year.
No timeframe has been given for his questioning.
