Deadly train accident in Greece: in Athens, the silent anger of the demonstrators
Some 3,000 demonstrators gathered this Friday evening in front of the Parliament, in Athens.
AP - Yorgos Karahalis
Text by: RFI Follow
4 mins
Thousands of angry people demonstrated this Friday in Athens, where clashes broke out, and in other cities in Greece, in memory of the 57 people killed in a train collision, on the third day of national mourning.
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The image is sober and poignant.
In the hands of protesters gathered in the Greek capital, dozens of large black balloons float on a long string above the crowd.
The contrast with the ocher facade of the neoclassical building of the Greek Parliament is striking.
This tribute to the young victims of the murderous train accident takes place without slogans, in silence.
There are about 3,000 people there.
A black sticker is massively distributed.
Above, in white letters, the expression “Pare me otan ftaseis” – “Call me when you have arrived”.
The sentence that all mothers say to their children to know that they are well, that they are alive, explains the one who distributes the stickers.
"
It's not over
"
A few meters further, a grandmother evokes her sadness and her anger, sobs in her voice.
She had met one of the young victims of the accident.
Another protester imagines that the social tension will go crescendo.
“
We are carrying out here a commemoration without words, a silent demonstration, after the train accident.
But in my opinion, this is only the beginning, the reaction of people will continue to grow.
It's not over
,” he told our correspondent in Athens,
Joël Bronner
.
This tribute is also indeed a cry of anger.
A silent cry.
Later in the evening, as if to vindicate this demonstrator, the silence will finally be broken, replaced by the sound of clashes between some demonstrators and the police.
In Thessaloniki, in the north of the country, where a similar number of demonstrators marched on Friday, the police also briefly used tear gas.
In Larissa, the city closest to the scene of the accident in the center of the country, there were 700 demonstrators, and 500 in Patras, a university town in the Peloponnese (southwest), according to the police.
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The Greek railway company Hellenic Train remains the first target of the anger of these demonstrators.
The word “Assassins” was painted in red letters this morning on the window of its headquarters in Athens.
Hellenic Train is implicated for numerous negligence and shortcomings that led to this disaster, described as a "national tragedy" by the authorities and which upsets Greece.
This Friday morning, the Greek police had raided the Larissa station, looking for the causes of the tragedy.
The station master, 59, who admitted his responsibility for the accident, must be heard by the courts in Larissa this Saturday.
He faces life imprisonment if proven guilty.
Media, including the public television channel ERT, have highlighted his inexperience since, according to them, he had been appointed to this post only 40 days ago after a job at the Ministry of Education and a training of three month.
According to a judicial source quoted by AFP, the ongoing investigation aims "to initiate criminal proceedings, if necessary, against members of the management of the company" Hellenic Train.
She confirmed that “
audio files, documents and other evidence that could help clarify the case and assign criminal responsibilities were seized
” in Larissa station.
Justice and the population want to understand why a train carrying 342 passengers and ten railway workers was authorized to take the same single track linking Athens to Thessaloniki (north) as a freight convoy.
Strike renewed
Like the day before, the trains remained at the depot this Friday after a call for a strike by the railway unions which was renewed for another 48 hours.
Organizations lament that their demands for permanent staffing, better training and new security tools have "
all been thrown in the trash for good
".
The president of the OSE train drivers' union, Kostas Genidounias, highlighted the safety breaches on the offending line, where “
all signaling is done manually.
»
Hellenic Train was bought in 2017 by the Italian public group Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane (FS) as part of the privatization program demanded by Greece's creditors during the economic crisis (2009-2018).
Three weeks ago, the union representatives of the company had sounded the alarm week.
“
We are not going to wait for the accident to happen to see those responsible shed crocodile tears
,” they warned.
(
And with
AFP)
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