Fresh round of protests in Athens over country's worst train collision
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Organizers announced that a general strike will be taking place on Thursday, March 16.
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Protesters take part in a rally following a train collision in central Greece, in front of the parliament, in Athens, Sunday, March 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)
A RIA Novosti correspondent reported on Sunday that protesters gathered in the streets of Athens today to demonstrate over the recent train collision which claimed the lives of 57 people.
Videos circulated widely on social media of protesters demonstrating in Athens' Syntagma Square next to the parliament on Sunday, with mostly young and middle-aged protesters marching and chanting slogans.
Representatives and members of political parties, civil society organizations, trade unions, including the ADEDY public sector union and the communist All Workers Militant Front (PAME), as well as medical unions and student associations, were all present at the Square, issuing calls for Greek citizens to join the rally.
Read more: Greek police, protesters clash after rail disaster rally in Athens
"Unlike the government, we are not seeking scapegoats, but blaming the policies of the authorities of recent years that have led to the tragic state of transport today," the PAME said in its appeal to join the rally.
There was a protest in athens today! following the train incident last week, the biggest one in the history of Greece!! pic.twitter.com/fi75XTgTS9
— ♈︎ ☉ ♍︎ ☾ ♏︎ ⛢ (@scorpiomars111) March 12, 2023
Protesters are demanding that the government launches an unbiased and transparent investigation into the cause of the railroad incident.
Photos and videos of the protest showed demonstrators holding crossed-out pictures of ministers and journalists accused of biased coverage.
Students take part in a demonstration following the fatal collision of two trains, near the city of Larissa, in Athens, Greece March 9, 2023. REUTERS/Florion Goga#reuterspictures #onassignment #photojournalism #athens #greece #protest #demo pic.twitter.com/cYSxIoO5Cj
— Florion Goga (@FlorionGoga) March 9, 2023
Organizers announced that a general strike will be taking place on Thursday, March 16.
Tens of thousands of people once again filled the streets of Athens. It continues to protest the Greek state responsible for the Train massacre, in which 57 people died.#antireport#Τεμπη #Greece #Athens #Atina pic.twitter.com/SoVq9gOE1L
— Partizan Yunanistan (@partizanGreece1) March 12, 2023
On March 1, a passenger train collided with a freight train near the city of Larissa. Before the accident, the passenger train had switched to the freight train's lane, putting them on the same track and resulting in a head-on collision.
The head of the Larissa station was later arrested and confessed that he had mistakenly sent a passenger train along the wrong track.
Railroad employees then raised concerns about chronic safety issues that authorities have been neglecting for years.
The Government of Greece vowed to investigate the causes of the disaster.
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