Trial opens over deadly Tempe rail disaster
Thirty-six people are set to face charges as a major trial opens Monday in the central city of Larissa, three years after Greece’s deadliest railway disaster killed 57 people and injured dozens. Due to the large number of participants, the trial has been relocated to a specially configured hall at the Conference Center of the University of Thessaly’s Gaiopolis campus.
Members of labor unions, student associations, political and social organizations, as well as ordinary citizens gathered to protest outside the venue, displaying banners calling for justice and safer transport.
A total of 352 witnesses are expected to testify during the proceedings, which are expected to last more than two years, including survivors and relatives of the victims, while around 250 lawyers will take part in the case, underscoring its scale and complexity.
Those charged include senior officials from the Greek railway company, the maintenance firm and the operator – OSE, ERGOSE and Hellenic Train, respectively – who served between 2016 and early 2023. The stationmaster on duty that night is also among the accused, along with two colleagues who were not at their posts.
The defendants face criminal charges carrying potential life sentences. None of the accused are currently in prison, although some had previously been held in pretrial detention. No political officials are among those on trial.
Train workers are holding a 24-hour strike on Monday, which their union described as “an act of collective remembrance, protest, and democratic vigilance.”
Investigations have revealed that a project co-funded by the European Union to install safety systems, launched in 2014, was still years behind schedule by 2023. Relatives of the victims have also accused authorities of attempting to cover up evidence.
The New Democracy government, denying any wrongdoing, has vowed to deliver justice and pledged a complete overhaul of the country’s railways by 2027.
The disaster occurred on the night of February 28, 2023, when a passenger train traveling from Athens to Thessaloniki, carrying many students, collided head-on with a freight train in the Tempe gorge in central Greece. The impact triggered a massive fireball that engulfed the front carriages, killing several passengers instantly, while the remains of some victims were never recovered. [Combined reports]
