Justice Derailed

Tens of thousands of Greeks protested across the country on Sunday to demand justice for the 57 people who died in Greece’s worst rail disaster two years ago, the Associated Press reported.

The protests, breaking out in more than 100 cities in the southeast European country, were some of the largest Greece has seen in recent years, according to Reuters. Brief clashes broke out between the police and some protesters, with the officers using tear gas to break up the crowds.

Protesters held banners reading, “I have no oxygen,” which were a woman’s last words in a call to emergency services during the 2023 train collision. It was previously thought that all of the victims had died on impact. The chilling audio of her call was released by local media last week, sparking the current wave of protests.

The February 2023 crash happened on a line linking Athens with Greece’s second-largest city Thessaloniki, where a freight train and a passenger train packed with students crashed head-on just before midnight.

Soon afterward, thousands of Greeks took to the streets to demonstrate against alleged government neglect regarding the maintenance of the rail network, the country then still amid a decade-long financial crisis.

Following the release of the recording, many speculated that dozens of the victims might have died in a fire following the crash. A judicial investigation is still underway and the causes of the deaths of many of the victims have still not been determined, Euronews noted.

The families of the victims have accused the authorities of trying to cover up evidence and pinning the blame solely on the stationmaster, as deflecting their responsibility.

The government has denied those allegations.