CNN
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Anger in Greece over poor railway security grew on Thursday as the loss of life toll from one of many nation’s worst practice crashes in current years reached 57.
Demonstrators poured onto the streets after the head-on collision between a passenger practice carrying greater than 350 folks and a freight practice on Tuesday night in Tempi, close to town of Larissa.
Protesters clashed with police in the Greek capital Athens, the Greek transport minister resigned in the wake of the tragedy and a rail staff union is occurring strike, accusing the federal government of “disrespect” in the sector.
Another 48 folks stay in hospital as a results of the crash, which left toppled carriages and scorched particles in its wake. Six of the injured being handled are in important situation due to head wounds and severe burns, state-owned public broadcaster ERT reported Thursday.
Protesters gathered exterior the central Athens headquarters of Greek rail firm Hellenic Train once more on Thursday night in an indication organized by pupil and employee unions.
Police already had a presence exterior the Hellenic Train headquarters earlier than the demonstrators arrived. The protest was peaceable, following unrest on Wednesday in which demonstrators clashed with police.
Most of the passengers concerned in the accident had been younger, a neighborhood hospital informed ERT. The accident got here quickly after a vacation weekend.
Search and rescue operations will proceed on Thursday and Friday on the website of the crash in Tempi, close to town of Larissa, in accordance to the Fire Service.
Meanwhile, relations of these lacking are nonetheless awaiting information relating to their family members as the identification course of continues at Larissa General Hospital.
Speaking earlier to Greek media, Dimitris Bournazis, who remains to be making an attempt to get information about his father and brother, stated nobody has given him any data. Bournazis stated he was making an attempt to contact the corporate to discover out the place on the practice his relations had been sitting on the time of the crash. He stated he referred to as the places of work of Hellenic Train thrice however nobody has referred to as him again.
“The prime minister and the health minister came here yesterday. Why? To do what? To Explain what? Where are they today?,” Bournazis informed Greek broadcaster SKAI, including that “no one has given us any information, no one knows how many people really were inside.”
“We cannot only blame one person for this because of a mistake. Where is everyone else now? They all await the election to speak,” he stated.
Speaking to Greek public broadcaster ERT, a passenger Andreas Alikaniotis, who was in the second carriage throughout the collision, described the moments following the crash.
“What we did was to break the glass, which was already cracked, and to throw the luggage outside the carriage, so we can land somewhere soft,” he informed ERT, describing how he helped round 10 folks escape.
“We jumped 3 to 4 meters,” he added, “first the more seriously injured and then us with lighter injuries”
Alikaniotis added that he remembers pulling up two or three ladies and serving to them get to the window to leap. “There was panic,” he added.
Greece has a weak document of railway passenger security in contrast with different international locations in Europe, recording the best railway fatality charge per million practice kilometers from 2018 to 2020 amongst 28 nations on the continent, in accordance to a 2022 report from the European Union Agency for Railways.
In a rare assembly, the Greek federation of rail staff determined unanimously to launch the 24-hour strike on Thursday to spotlight poor working situations and persistent understaffing.
It accused the federal authorities of “disrespect” in the direction of railways for inflicting the tragic crash, saying “more permanent staff, better training and mainly the implementation of modern security systems, are permanently thrown in the bin.”
Separately, one other 24-hour strike was introduced by Greek metro staff, who stated in a press release: “There are no words to describe such tragedy.”
Greek transport minister Kostas Karamanlis stated the railway system the federal government inherited was “not up to 21st century standards” as he stepped down from his position Wednesday.
In a televised handle after visiting the crash website, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated the collision was “mainly” due “to tragic human error.”
He stated the transport minister’s choice to resign was honorable, and added that the heads of Hellenic Railways Organization and its subsidiary ERGOSE have additionally submitted their resignations.
A station supervisor of a practice station in town of Larissa was arrested in connection to the collision, as a part of the investigation into the incident.
The 59-year-old man in query had been charged with mass deaths by means of negligence and inflicting grievous bodily hurt by means of negligence, the Larissa police division stated.
According to ERT the station supervisor being questioned for his position in the collision has admitted to “making a mistake.”
Condolences poured in from the world over, whereas a three-day interval of mourning is below manner in Greece.
Britain’s King Charles III stated in a press release that he and his spouse Camilla, Queen Consort, have been “most shocked and profoundly saddened by the news of the dreadful accident.”
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: “My thoughts go out to the families of the victims of the terrible accident that took place last night near Larissa. France stands alongside the Greeks.”