Anger spreads in Greece. Tens of thousands took to the streets again on Wednesday, March 8. In Athens, at least 40,000 people marched in the middle of the day, according to a police spokeswoman, while there were 15,000 in Thessaloniki, the country’s second city. Some are now calling for the resignation of the government after the train disaster that killed 57 people.
The country is also almost at a standstill: no maritime connection is ensured between the mainland and the islands, and the trains have remained in the station for the eighth day in a row. Public service employees walked off the job for 24 hours at the call of the sector confederation, as did primary school teachers, doctors and bus and metro drivers, joined in processions by students.
Many Greeks are expressing bitterness at what they see as a decline in public services since the austerity plans imposed by Greece’s creditors to lift the country out of the doldrums. The handling of the accident by the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was considered calamitous by the demonstrators who called for the resignation of his government.
“It’s not an accident, it’s politics”
“This government must go,” says Niki Siouta, a 54-year-old civil engineer, met by Agence France-Presse in one of the demonstrations in the capital. “I am here to pay homage to the dead but also to express my anger and my frustration,” she added as the dilapidated state-owned rail network and the shortcomings in the system security have been singled out to explain this drama which upsets the whole country.
“It’s not an accident, it’s politics,” also proclaimed a leaflet from the Union of Athens Pupils. “It’s the same government that doesn’t give money for education and for hospitals,” said Thanassis Oikonomou, a union representative for the Athens bus company.
Without any alert being triggered, two trains, one passenger, the other freight, traveled for several kilometers on the same track before colliding head-on on February 28 around 10:30 p.m. (French time), in Tempé, near the town of Larissa, 350 kilometers north of the capital. Ever since what authorities have called a “national tragedy”, Greeks have been holding their leaders to account.
Parents collapsed, country upset
In Athens where several parades, some marked by violence, have already taken place since the train accident, one could read on banners: “Call me when you arrive”. This slogan, which refers to the message that Greek parents usually send to their children, has spread in rallies and schoolyards.
On Sunday, in Athens and Thessaloniki, violent clashes opposed police and demonstrators on the sidelines of a rally of 12,000 people. Many victims were young people and students. In recent days, the images of collapsed parents burying their child, often broadcast live by television channels, have helped to upset the country a little more.
The head of government, who faces general elections in the spring, is crushed to have a few hours after the disaster assured that it was “a tragic human error”. However, the railway unions recalled with anger that they had sounded the alarm on the serious technical failures on this line long before the tragedy, without having been heard. While promising compensation to the families of the victims, Transport Minister Giorgos Gerepetridis admitted that the accident could have been avoided if the installation of the “global remote management system had been completed”.
The Larissa station master, who admitted responsibility for the accident, was remanded in custody. According to Greek media, legal proceedings should be initiated in the coming days against other officials of the rail network.
Contrite, the Prime Minister asked Sunday, forgiveness to the families of the victims, a mea culpa considered very late for many. He also asked for help from the European Union, which dispatched the executive director of the European railway agency ERA, Josef Doppelbauer, and other experts to Athens on Wednesday. The anger is also directed at the railway company Hellenic Train, which responded to the accusations by recalling that the responsibility for the maintenance of the network fell to the Greek public company OSE.
