ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th March, 2023) Thousands of protesters gathered in the center of Athens on Sunday in connection with a recent train collision that killed 57 people, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.
On March 1, a passenger train collided with a freight train near the Greek city of Larissa. The passenger train had switched to the freight train's lane before the accident, which brought them both on the same track and resulted in a deadly head-on collision. The head of the Larissa station was arrested. According to reports, he admitted his guilt and said that he had mistakenly sent a passenger train along the wrong track. Railroad workers, in turn, talked about chronic safety issues that authorities have been ignoring for years. The Greek government has vowed to fully investigate the causes of the catastrophe.
Mostly young and middle-aged protesters have filled Athens' Syntagma Square next to the parliament on Sunday. Greece's political parties and organizations, the ADEDY public sector union, the communist All Workers Militant Front (PAME), medical unions and student associations have called on the Greek citizens to join the protest.
"Unlike the government, we are not seeking scapegoats, but blaming the policies of the authorities of recent years that have led to the tragic state of transport today," the PAME said in its appeal to join the rally.
Rally participants are demanding an investigation into the cause of the railroad disaster. Some of the protesters are holding crossed-out photos of ministers and journalists accused of biased coverage of the tragedy.
A general strike that will take place on March 16 has been announced at the protest.
Authorities stepped up security measures in central Athens because of the rally. Mass protests in connection with the railroad incident are also taking place in other Greek cities.
