What started out as a peaceful protest in Athens and the central Greek city of Larissa, near where the trains crashed, turned violent as hooded rioters hurled fireworks and stones at police for about an hour, state radio reported.
Thousands of demonstrators, mainly young people, had earlier taken to the streets in the cities to vent their anger over Tuesday's rail disaster.
Police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the rioters. Protestors chanted slogans against politicians who are said to be responsible for the dilapidated state of the Greek railways.
Railway workers, who also lost colleagues in the accident, have staged rotating walkouts since Wednesday to denounce cost-cutting and underinvestment in the rail infrastructure, a legacy of Greece’s debilitating debt crisis from 2010 to 2018.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government has blamed human error for the crash. However Mitsotakis said on Sunday that human error should not deflect from responsibilities for a long-suffering railway network.
Railway workers’ unions say safety systems throughout the rail network have been deficient for years as a remote surveillance and signalling system has not been delivered on time. They have called on the government to provide a timetable for the implementation of safety protocols.
MNA/PR
Your Comment