Trial over Greece’s worst train crash set for March next year
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
A long-awaited trial into Greece’s worst train crash that killed 57 people in 2023 will open on March 23 next year, a source in the Larissa prosecutor’s office told AFP Tuesday.
The prosecutor’s office in the central Greek city, where the trial will be held, has called for 36 people to be put on trial, including railway executives and the stationmaster on duty the night of the February 28, 2023 crash.
They face charges including involuntary manslaughter and negligence.
Others standing trial include the former president of the Regulatory Authority for Railways, a former executive of the railway company OSE which is responsible for network maintenance, and senior transport ministry officials.
They face sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
The court will also prosecute two executives of the Greek railway’s Italian-owned operating company Hellenic Train for minor offences.
Separately, two senior politicians including the former transport minister also face justice by a special court.
But they face only misdemeanour charges, which has infuriated victims’ relatives.
Fifty-seven people, most of them young students, were killed in February 2023 when a passenger train and a freight train collided near Tempe, central Greece, having been allowed to run on the same track for 12 minutes.
The tragedy sparked workers’ strikes and hundreds of protests in Greece and abroad, denouncing the country’s failure to properly investigate the accident.
Opinion polls have shown most Greeks believe the government tried to cover up evidence into the cause of the crash.
The victims’ families believe valuable evidence was lost when the crash site was bulldozed soon after the accident.
Source: AFP
The original article: belongs to NEOS KOSMOS .
