Citizens have demanded the obvious, truth and justice, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis posted Sunday, in his weekly briefing, following Friday’s massive rally in Athens, echoed by gatherings across Greece and cities abroad, to mark the second anniversary of the Tempe railway disaster, which claimed 57 lives and left many seriously injured.
“The citizens – both those who marched in protest and those who grieved in silence – demanded the obvious: truth and justice for the victims. A State that takes action to ensure such a tragedy is never repeated. Safe and modern public transport that the country deserves,” the prime minister posted.
A crowd-counting app developed to estimate how many people might be in a given area suggests almost 430,000 people attended the Athens rally on Friday.
A day earlier, a much-anticipated report on the deadly disaster unveiled by the Hellenic Air and Rail Accident Investigation Authority (HARSIA) noted that vital information was lost by the improper handling of the accident site at Tempe in central Greece, where two trains smashed into each other head-on on the night of February 28, 2023.
“The findings have revealed a situation far from what we aspire to. Our infrastructure must be modernized and made safe, because what has been done in recent years is simply not enough – and we know this. For the State as a whole, Greece cannot afford half-measures or improvisation,” the prime minister noted. “This tragedy was not just a terrible coincidence, nor was it just the tragic result of human error, and the findings confirmed it. That is why the call for faster, more decisive reforms in the functioning of our State is louder than ever. Progress cannot be left to words alone.”
Addressing the ongoing judicial investigation into the tragedy, the prime minister noted: “I once again urge everyone to trust the judiciary and allow it to carry out its work unbiasedly. In a state governed by the rule of law, only the judiciary has the responsibility, authority, and ability to bring clarity to a case that has caused us so much pain – not political parties, nor public opinion.”