More than a month after the train disaster in central Greece that killed 57 people and shocked the country, a Greek railway inspector was arrested today. The man, who was the chief of the station supervisors, was tried for the crime of “disrupting traffic safety”. He is the second person charged in connection with the incident near Larissa.
According to the same source, the 63-year-old station chief inspector, who was on duty the night of the accident, was charged with “disrupting road safety” and “deliberate manslaughter”. He faces a sentence ranging from ten years to life in prison. Vassilis Samaras, 57, the station chief who was on duty at the time of the accident, has also been detained for weeks. He admitted responsibility for the head-on collision of a passenger train and a freight train in Tempi.
Without any alarm, the two trains collided head-on after traveling several kilometers on the same line, causing fire and damage to two locomotives and two wagons of the Athens-Thessaloniki passenger train. Among the 57 victims and dozens of injured were many young people who had returned to Thessaloniki, a major university city in the north, after a long weekend in the capital.
Two other station chiefs on the evening of 28 February were investigated and arrested for leaving their duties before their shifts were due, leaving the less experienced station chief Vassilis Samaras alone. But these two rail workers were released earlier this week after paying a bail of 10,000 euros.
In addition to the responsibilities of incumbent stationmasters to be determined during the investigation and trial phase, Greece’s worst rail accident ever brought to the fore the chronic shortcomings of Greek railways and delays in modernisation. security systems. Since then, a movement of protest and demonstration has erupted: on March 8, 65,000 people took to the streets across the country, 40,000 in Athens alone. Meanwhile, passenger trains connecting Athens with Thessaloniki came to a standstill.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
