Greece rail operator denies illegal cargo in 2023 crash
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
Greece’s rail network operator insisted Thursday there were no explosive chemicals on board a freight train involved in the country’s worst rail tragedy that killed 57 people in 2023.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis earlier said the Italian-owned company should face legal sanctions if it were proven that it knowingly misled the authorities about the train’s cargo.
A leaked experts’ report funded by the victims’ families claimed the freight train was carrying an illegal and unreported load of explosive chemicals, which contributed to the high death toll.
Rail operator Hellenic Train said in a statement the cargo on board the freight train “has already been clarified”.
The train was carrying iron materials, beer and empty containers, the company said, adding that it was cooperating with the investigation with “full transparency and responsibility.”
But later Thursday, the Athens prosecutors’ office said it had summoned Hellenic Train’s former CEO Maurizio Capotorto on suspicions of “false testimony” before a parliamentary investigative commission last year, local media reported.
No timeframe was set for his questioning, the reports said. Capotorto was succeeded last May by a fellow Italian, Roberto Rinaudo.
Studying ’cause of fire’
On February 28, 2003, a train from Athens to Thessaloniki carrying more than 350 passengers collided head-on with a freight train near the central city of Larissa, killing 57 people.
Survivors described being trapped among smashed carriages and burning debris as the train keeled over.
Mitsotakis acknowledged in an interview with Greek television Wednesday that some victims “died on the train not as a result of the collision… that is why (establishing) the cause of the fire is significant.”
In the two years since the disaster, Mitsotakis’s administration has faced a torrent of accusations of negligence and criminal wrongdoing.
More than 40,000 protesters turned out at rallies in Athens and the northern city of Thessaloniki on Sunday to demand justice for the victims and their families.
The two trains had been travelling toward each other on the same track for 19 minutes without triggering any alarm system.
In the aftermath the accident was blamed on faulty equipment and human error, while the local station master was charged with negligent homicide.
But in Wednesday’s interview, Mitsotakis denied there was any attempt at a cover-up and refused any suggestion that he should resign.
“If a mistake has been made, the investigating magistrate will rule on it,” he said. “The answers can only come from the justice system.”
In 2024 his government survived a no-confidence vote over the disaster.
Greece’s intercity trains went under private management in 2017, when state-owned Greek rail traffic services operator TrainOSE was privatised and sold to Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, becoming Hellenic Train.
Greek state company OSE still owns the tracks.
Source: AFP
The original article: belongs to NEOS KOSMOS .
