ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2023) An inspector of the Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) has been taken into custody after trying to offload responsibility for the Tempi train crash onto the head of the Palaiofarsalos railway station, media reported on Friday.
The inspector delivered a six-hour speech before an investigating judge and said the chief of the Larissa railway station, who had been taken in custody, could be on shift alone on the day of the incident, Greek broadcaster ERT reported.
The defendant handed over a 80-page document containing his response to the accusations, saying that he had proposed changing the staff, but such reshuffles should be approved by his superiors, the report said.
The inspector added that he was unaware that two Larissa train station managers had left earlier before their shift should have ended, according to the report.
The inspector and other defendants in the case are accused of committing a crime related to obstructing traffic, as well as manslaughter of several people and causing injuries, the report added.
On March 1, a passenger train collided with a freight train near the 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 head-on collision that claimed the lives of of 57 people. The head of 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 promised to fully investigate the causes of the catastrophe.
