The Larisa railway station, in Greece, was raided this Friday by the police as part of the investigation into the causes of the accident between two trains that occurred on Tuesday night.

“It is still ongoing, and is part of the investigation. The police have seized (…) all documents that may help the investigation,” the police spokesman said.

The railway accident, which occurred on the line that goes from Athens to Thessaloniki (north), left at least 57 dead, and has been attributed to an error by the manager of the Larisa station, the closest city to the place of the accident.

On the other hand, a judicial source indicated to AFP that the investigations seek to purify criminal responsibilities, “if necessary”, against members of the management of the Hellenic Train company, the Greek railway company, owned by the Italian public company Ferrovie Dello Stato Italian (FS).

Arrested after the event and accused of culpable homicide and injuries, the lawyer for the Larisa station manager, 59, said his client acknowledged “his mistake”, but also evoked other factors.

“My client has assumed his share of responsibility. But you shouldn’t focus on a tree when there is a forest behind it,” said lawyer Stefanos Pantzartzidis.

State television ERT indicated that the station chief had been appointed just 40 days ago and underwent training for just three months. If he is found guilty, he can be sentenced to life in jail.

The Greek government intoned the mea culpa on Thursday for the “chronic” deficiencies of the railway network, which have had to do with the tragedy on Tuesday.

Justice tries to understand why a train with 342 passengers and ten workers was authorized to take the same single track as a freight convoy.

The Greeks will demonstrate again on Friday in the third day of national mourning for the rail disaster that sparked a wave of outrage over failures in the rail network.

In the capital Athens and other cities in Greece, the population is called to protest in silence under the slogan “We mourn our dead, we ask for the truth.”

The railway unions organize a strike on Friday for the second consecutive day, denouncing “the lack of respect that the governments have shown over the years towards the Greek railways, which has led” to this catastrophe.

“We are experiencing an indescribable tragedy, we mourn the unjust loss of dozens of people, mainly young people, we ask for the truth,” read the call for the silent demonstration on Friday.

The trains traveled several kilometers on the same track between Athens and Thessaloniki (north), the two main Greek cities, before colliding head-on on Tuesday shortly before midnight near Larissa.

“Why does Greece only learn after tragedies?” the left-leaning newspaper Ta Nea asked on the front page on Friday.

In Thessaloniki, some 2,000 people protested on Thursday night, with serious faces, although occasionally venting their anger with stones and Molotov cocktails.

The trains did not circulate on Thursday after a call for a strike by the federation of unions in the sector. “Unfortunately, our constant demands for permanent staff, for better training and, above all, for the adoption of security technologies were thrown into the trash,” lamented the unions.

The president of the OSE train drivers’ union, Kostas Genidounias, added that all the signaling on the line where the accident occurred “is done manually.” “Since the year 2000 the systems have not worked,” he said.

Union representatives from the Hellenic Train railway company warned of this three weeks ago. “We are not going to wait for the accident that is going to arrive to see those responsible drop crocodile tears,” they had warned.

The company was sold in 2017 to the Italian group Ferrovie dello Statto within the framework of the privatization program demanded by Greece’s creditors during the country’s economic crisis (2009-2018).

“The delays (in the modernization of the railways) find their origin in the chronic pathologies of the Greek public sector, during decades of weakness,” government spokesman Yannis Oikonomou admitted on Thursday.

The new Minister of Transport, Giorgos Gerapetritis, apologized to the families of the victims and launched “a complete self-criticism of the political system and the State.” His predecessor resigned yesterday.

In full controversy, Greek media published a letter from the former head of the country in the European rail traffic system, Christos Katsioulis, which evoked “mismanagement” of the application “of signaling contracts” in some parts of the network.

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