More than two weeks after the rail disaster that killed 57 people, the discontent has not stopped. More than 40,000 Greeks took to the streets again on Thursday to shout their anger as the country finds itself largely paralyzed by a general strike. Violent clashes broke out. Protesters threw Molotov cocktails and police responded with tear gas and stun grenades near parliament in the centre of the capital, according to AFP journalists.

After a large rally of 40,000 people in Athens on March 8, more than 25,000 people, according to police, gathered in several demonstrations in the center of the capital. In the middle of the day, demonstrators came to scold their anger in front of the headquarters of the railway company Hellenic Train, noted to AFP, as they had already done three days after the collision between a passenger train linking Athens to Thessaloniki and a convoy of goods on February 28.

"We will not stop being on the streets until those responsible for this tragedy are punished," said Zoe Konstantinidou, a philosophy student protesting in Thessaloniki, home of many of the victims. "They don't care about our lives," she adds, as mistrust of the Conservative government continues unabated.

"Things have to change"

The demonstrators responded to the call of trade unions in the public sector but also, for the first time, in the private sector with a risk of further violence, after clashes on 8 March. "Things have to change in this country," said Stravoula Ghatzieleftheriou, a private sector employee in Athens.

After several demonstrations of limited scale in the days following the rail accident, some 65,000 people protested on March 8, with some calling on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to resign. Greece was also largely paralyzed on Thursday, especially with transport. All boats connecting the mainland to the islands remain docked for 24 hours and most planes on the tarmac.

Beyond the rail disaster that has shaken the country, Greeks are crying out their frustration with the deterioration of public services in a country bled dry by the years of crisis and the austerity plans imposed by its creditors.

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