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Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Violent protests erupt in Greece on anniversary of deadly train crash
A protest over the Greek government's response to the nation's largest-ever train crash turned violent on Friday as scores of youths hurled rocks and gasoline bombs at police. The fiery scenes took place in front of Greece's parliament building in Athens during mass protests to mark the second anniversary of a devastating train crash in northern Greece that left 57 people dead. Following hours of peaceful rallies in the Greek capital, youths with hammers smashed paving stones, throwing the rubble and makeshift firebombs at police who responded with tear gas. Bodies From Greece Train Collision That Killed 57 Returned To Families In Closed Caskets Hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded the streets of cities across Greece on Friday in a mass mobilization, led by relatives of the victims' families. Clashes also broke out in Greece's second city, Thessaloniki, where a giant crowd choked the centre and people released black balloons into the sky in memory of the dead. Read On The Fox News App More than 80 people were detained and five were injured in Athens alone, authorities said. The protests - among the largest since the country's debt crisis more than a decade ago - have been fueled by public resentment against the conservative government's perceived inaction. Bodies From Greece Train Collision That Killed 57 Returned To Families In Closed Caskets Critics say that politicians should be held accountable for failures that led up to the crash, but so far only rail officials have been charged with any crimes. "The government hasn't done anything to get justice," said Christos Main, 57, a musician at the Athens rally. "This wasn't an accident, it was murder," he said. In one of the biggest protests in Greece in years, public services and many private businesses were brought to a halt and people poured into the streets of cities and towns chanting "murderers" against what they say is the state's role in the disaster. The government denies wrongdoing. Rail unions say the network has been poorly maintained despite rail service upgrades to provide faster trains in recent years. The 2023 train disaster in Tempe saw a passenger train collide head-on with an oncoming freight train. It was Greece's worst railway accident and left dozens injured and exposed deficiencies in the country's transportation infrastructure. The trains crashed just before the Vale of Tempe, a gorge separating the regions of Thessaly and Macedonia. The train was traveling along Greece's busiest route, from the capital Athens to the country's second-largest city, Thessaloniki. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this article source: Violent protests erupt in Greece on anniversary of deadly train crash
Express Tribune
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Hundreds of thousands protest in Greece on train crash anniversary as clashes erupt in Athens
A Molotov cocktail ignites, striking a riot police officer, at a protest near the Greek parliament, marking the second anniversary of the country's worst railway disaster, as an investigation continues, in Athens, Greece, February 28. PHOTO: REUTERS Listen to article Protesters hurled petrol bombs and set fire to trash cans in Athens on Friday as hundreds of thousands of Greeks went on strike and took to the streets in nationwide demonstrations on the second anniversary of the country's deadliest train crash. Fifty-seven people were killed when a passenger train filled with students collided with a freight train on February 28, 2023 in central Greece. The accident has become a painful emblem of the perceived neglect of the country's infrastructure in the decades before the crash and the two years since. 'The government hasn't done anything to get justice,' said Christos Main, 57, a musician at the Athens rally. 'This wasn't an accident, it was murder,' he said. In one of the biggest protests in Greece in years, public services and many private businesses were brought to a halt and people poured into the streets of cities and towns chanting 'murderers' against what they say is the state's role in the disaster. The government denies wrongdoing. A sea of people descended onto Athens' Syntagma Square in front of parliament, where protesters spray-painted the names of the dead in red on the ground. The slogan 'I have no oxygen' – a woman's last words in a call to emergency services - echoed in chants across the country. The Athens protest was peaceful until a group of hooded youths hurled petrol bombs at police and tried to storm the barricades of the parliament building. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannon and cat-and-mouse clashes then spread into the surrounding neighbourhoods. Clashes also broke out in Greece's second city, Thessaloniki, where a giant crowd choked the centre and people released black balloons into the sky in memory of the dead. More than 80 people were detained and five were injured in Athens alone, authorities said. Political threat Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' centre-right government, which won re-election after the crash in 2023, has faced repeated criticism by relatives of the victims for failing to initiate a parliamentary inquiry into political responsibility. The government says it is up to the judiciary to investigate the accident. In a Facebook post on Friday, Mitsotakis said his government would work to modernise the railway network and make it safer. 'That night, we saw the ugliest face of the country in the national mirror,' he wrote of the night of the crash. 'Fatal human errors met with chronic state inadequacies.' The safety gaps that caused the crash have not been filled two years on, a state inquiry found on Thursday. A separate judicial investigation remains unfinished and no one has been convicted in the accident. Opposition parties have accused the government of covering up evidence and urged it to step down. Next week, parliament is expected to debate whether to set up a committee to investigate possible political responsibility in the disaster. Protestors said they have waited too long. Anastasia Plakia, who lost two sisters and a cousin in the crash, posted a photo on Facebook of the four of them smiling together in a restaurant: '730 days without you; 730 days of sadness, pain and rage,' the post said. General strike All international and domestic flights were grounded as air traffic controllers joined seafarers, train drivers, doctors, lawyers and teachers in a 24-hour general strike to pay tribute to the victims of the crash. Businesses were shut and theatres cancelled performances. In a survey carried out this week by Pulse pollsters, 82% of Greeks asked said the train disaster was 'one of the most' or 'the most' important issue in the country and 66% said they were dissatisfied with the investigations into the accident. 'Every day, the monster of corrupt power appears before us,' Maria Karystianou, whose daughter died in the crash and who heads an association of victims' families, told the crowd in Athens Students shouted 'Text me when you get there,' - the final message many of the victims' relatives sent them. A cardboard sign read: 'Greece kills its children.' 'We're here because we're parents… tomorrow it might be our children,' said Litsa, a 45-year-old nurse.
CNN
28-02-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Hundreds of thousands protest across Greece over deadly train crash
Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in cities and towns across Greece on Friday to demand justice on the second anniversary of the country's deadliest-ever train crash, and striking workers grounded flights and halted sea and train transport. Fifty-seven people were killed when a passenger train filled with students collided with a freight train on February 28, 2023, near the Tempi gorge in central Greece. Two years later, the safety gaps that caused the crash have not been filled, an inquiry found on Thursday. A separate judicial investigation remains unfinished and no one has been convicted in the accident. Mass demonstrations were planned in dozens of cities across the country. All international and domestic flights were grounded as air traffic controllers joined seafarers, train drivers, doctors, lawyers and teachers in a 24-hour general strike to pay tribute to the victims of the crash. Businesses were shut and theatres canceled performances. By early morning, tens of thousands had gathered in Syntagma Square in the center of Athens, watched by police in riot gear. A sign read: 'Government of murderers.' Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' center-right government, which won re-election after the crash in 2023, has faced repeated criticism by relatives of the victims for failing to initiate a parliamentary inquiry into political responsibility. The government denies wrongdoing and says it is up to the judiciary to investigate the accident. Friday's protests reflected mounting anger over the disaster in Greece, where mistrust of government is common following a 2009-2018 debt crisis in which millions lost out on wages and pensions, and public services suffered from underfunding.' The government hasn't done anything to get justice,' said Christos Main, 57, a musician at the Athens rally. 'This wasn't an accident, it was murder,' he said. Another protester, who gave her name as Evi, said she was there to mourn the dead, 'but also because the government has tried to cover things up'.The names of those killed were spray-painted in red on the ground in front of the parliament building. In the suburbs of Athens, groups of all ages made their way downtown with placards reading 'I have no oxygen,' a slogan of the protests echoing a woman's last words in a call to emergency services. Many pupils went to class dressed in black, a symbol of mourning. Others held up black balloons. In a Facebook post on Friday, Mitsotakis said his government would work to modernize the railway network and make it safer.' That night, we saw the ugliest face of the country in the national mirror,' he wrote of the night of the crash. 'Fatal human errors met with chronic state inadequacies.' Opposition parties have accused the government of covering up evidence and urged it to step down. Next week, parliament is expected to debate whether to set up a committee to investigate possible political responsibility in the disaster. In a survey carried out this week by Pulse pollsters, 82% of Greeks asked said the train disaster was 'one of the most' or 'the most' important issue in the country and 66% said they were dissatisfied with the investigations into the accident. In Athens, students chanted 'Text me when you get there,' - the final message many of the victims' relatives sent them.'We're here because we're parents… tomorrow it might be our children,' said Litsa, a 45-year old nurse.
Fox News
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Violent protests erupt in Greece on anniversary of deadly train crash
A protest over the Greek government's response to the nation's largest-ever train crash turned violent on Friday as scores of youths hurled rocks and gasoline bombs at police. The fiery scenes took place in front of Greece's parliament building in Athens during mass protests to mark the second anniversary of a devastating train crash in northern Greece that left 57 people dead. Following hours of peaceful rallies in the Greek capital, youths with hammers smashed paving stones, throwing the rubble and makeshift firebombs at police who responded with tear gas. Hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded the streets of cities across Greece on Friday in a mass mobilization, led by relatives of the victims' families. Clashes also broke out in Greece's second city, Thessaloniki, where a giant crowd choked the centre and people released black balloons into the sky in memory of the dead. More than 80 people were detained and five were injured in Athens alone, authorities said. The protests - among the largest since the country's debt crisis more than a decade ago - have been fueled by public resentment against the conservative government's perceived inaction. Critics say that politicians should be held accountable for failures that led up to the crash, but so far only rail officials have been charged with any crimes. "The government hasn't done anything to get justice," said Christos Main, 57, a musician at the Athens rally. "This wasn't an accident, it was murder," he said. In one of the biggest protests in Greece in years, public services and many private businesses were brought to a halt and people poured into the streets of cities and towns chanting "murderers" against what they say is the state's role in the disaster. The government denies wrongdoing. Rail unions say the network has been poorly maintained despite rail service upgrades to provide faster trains in recent years. The 2023 train disaster in Tempe saw a passenger train collide head-on with an oncoming freight train. It was Greece's worst railway accident and left dozens injured and exposed deficiencies in the country's transportation infrastructure. The trains crashed just before the Vale of Tempe, a gorge separating the regions of Thessaly and Macedonia. The train was traveling along Greece's busiest route, from the capital Athens to the country's second-largest city, Thessaloniki.
Telegraph
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Violent protests erupt in Athens on rail crash anniversary
Protesters have clashed with police in Athens as hundreds of thousands of people rallies across Greece to demand justice on the second anniversary of the country's deadliest train crash. Fifty-seven people were killed when a passenger train filled with students collided head on with a freight train on Feb 28 2023, near the Tempi gorge in central Greece. Two years later, the safety gaps that caused the crash have not been filled, an inquiry found on Thursday. A separate judicial investigation remains unfinished and as yet no one has been convicted over the accident, fuelling popular anger. Demonstrations were held across Greece in one of the biggest protests in the country in years. But it escalated in Athens when a group of hooded youths hurled petrol bombs at police and tried to storm the barricades in front of parliament, while tear gas volleys fired by riot officers rang out across the centre. Elsewhere in the city, tens of thousands of people poured into the central Syntagma Square in front of parliament, chanting 'murderers' against what they say is the state's role in the disaster. On Friday, all international and domestic flights were grounded as air traffic controllers joined seafarers, train drivers, doctors, lawyers and teachers in a 24-hour general strike to pay tribute to the victims of the crash. Businesses were shut and theatres cancelled performances. The centre-Right government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister, which was re-elected after the crash in 2023, has faced repeated criticism by relatives of the victims for failing to initiate a parliamentary inquiry into political responsibility. The government denies wrongdoing and says it is up to the judiciary to investigate the accident. Friday's protests reflected mounting anger over the disaster in Greece, where mistrust of government is common following a debt crisis that lasted from 2009 to 2018 in which millions lost out on wages and pensions, and public services suffered from underfunding. 'The government hasn't done anything to get justice,' said Christos Main, 57, a musician at the Athens rally. 'This wasn't an accident, it was murder,' he said. Another protester, who gave her name as Evi, said she was there to mourn the dead, 'but also because the government has tried to cover things up.' On Friday, many pupils went to class dressed in black, a symbol of mourning. Others held up black balloons. Protesters spray-painted the names of the dead in red on the ground in front of the parliament building. 'I have no oxygen' – a woman's last words in a call to emergency services – echoed in chants across the country. A report on the investigation into the Tempe crash, released on Thursday, blamed human error, outdated infrastructure and major systemic failures for the collision. The aftermath was marked by scenes of chaos, with surviving passengers describing tumbling carriages, fires and smashed windows as they scrambled to escape. It was followed by the gruesome task of victim recovery and identification as many bodies were severely burnt or dismembered. Funerals were held across numerous communities throughout Greece, many streamed or broadcast live, turning private grief into a shared national experience. In a Facebook post, Mr Mitsotakis said his government would work to modernise the railway network and make it safer. 'That night, we saw the ugliest face of the country in the national mirror,' he wrote of the night of the crash. 'Fatal human errors met with chronic state inadequacies.' Opposition parties have accused the government of covering up evidence and urged it to step down. Next week, parliament is expected to debate whether to set up a committee to investigate possible political responsibility in the disaster. In a survey carried out this week by Pulse pollsters, 82 per cent of Greeks asked said the train disaster was 'one of the most' or 'the most' important issue in the country and 66 per cent said they were dissatisfied with the investigations into the accident. 'Every day, the monster of corrupt power appears before us,' Maria Karystianou, whose daughter died in the crash and who heads an association of victims' families, told the crowd in Athens Students shouted 'Text me when you get there' – the final message many of the victims' relatives sent them. A cardboard sign read 'Greece kills its children'.
