While the anger of the Greek people is not appeased, six days after the train disaster, the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is pressuring justice for the investigation to move forward. In a letter to the Supreme Court prosecutor on Monday, March 6, Mr. Mitsotakis asked that investigations into the crash that occurred on February 28 be given "priority" and assigned to the "highest level investigative services". ". He said it was a separate investigation from that carried out by government-appointed "experts" after the crash that killed 57 people in Tempe, Thessaly, central Greece.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked the Supreme Court for "immediate and thorough clarification of all criminal matters related to the tragic Tempe train crash."
Station master charged
Mr. Mitsotakis asked the Supreme Court prosecution to assess the possible criminal nature of "systemic errors in the railway sector, including any delay in completing the required technological upgrade of the relevant infrastructure". On Friday, by order of the prime minister, a special committee of experts was set up to "investigate and bring to light the systemic issues and malfunctions" that led to the rail tragedy.
The crash in Tempe was mostly blamed by authorities on "human error". On Sunday, in Larissa, the town closest to the scene of this accident, the station master was charged and remanded in custody for having committed a fatal error in "the death of a large number of people", a crime punishable a sentence ranging from ten years in prison to life, according to the Greek penal code.
More than 12,000 protesters shouted their anger in Athens on Sunday at the "chronic failures" of Greece's rail network, accusing governments in recent years of doing nothing to improve the network.
