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The Greek station supervisor accused of placing a rushing passenger prepare into the trail of an oncoming freight prepare was anticipated in courtroom on Saturday to face manslaughter fees within the deadliest rail disaster in Greek history.
However as Greek officers described the crash as a tragic case of human error, public opinion was galvanizing in opposition to the federal government for years of security neglect — not in opposition to a person who fellow rail staff and protesters say is being scapegoated.
“They need to say it’s one man’s fault,” mentioned Antonis Bompotis, 26, who was amongst lots of of protesters who gathered on Friday in Larissa, a metropolis close to the crash web site. “But it surely’s a authorities of murderers.” Outdoors the courthouse on Saturday, protesters held indicators criticizing the federal government for ignoring years of warnings {that a} rail catastrophe was inevitable.
“Wasn’t an accident, wasn’t a tragedy,” one banner learn. “It was state negligence and an assassination.”
The station supervisor, 59, who has not been publicly recognized, has privately acknowledged errors, based on excerpts from his statements to the authorities, which have been revealed within the Greek information media. Radio recordings published by a Greek news website present a prepare driver being instructed to disregard a crimson gentle.
“Move the crimson sign,” the station supervisor instructed the motive force late Tuesday night time, based on the recordings.
Potential errors, although, are solely a part of the story. Rail staff say the visitors lights have been all the time crimson due to years of technical failures. Trains had been positioned on the mistaken monitor earlier than, they mentioned, leaving staff to warn each other of oncoming trains solely by walkie-talkie.
“I’d cross myself each time for a crash to not occur,” mentioned Theodor Leventis, a prepare security supervisor of 20 years. He attended a vigil for the prepare’s victims in entrance of Larissa’s prepare station on Friday. “I used to be certain it will occur,” he added.
Mr. Leventis, 65, retired two years in the past after engaged on the identical route the place the crash had occurred. “They will’t say a person is accountable,” he mentioned. “The one one accountable is the federal government.”
The Greek authorities was supposed to have installed an automatic security system almost three years in the past, however it obtained extensions amid a contentious contracting course of. That system is meant to sound alarms and routinely cease locomotives in harmful conditions. Within the days after the crash, the Greek authorities has not defined why that system was so not on time. Neither have officers with the European Union, which spent lots of of thousands and thousands of euros over the previous decade to enhance a rail system that, by a number of measures, is the deadliest in Europe.
Railway unions have lengthy warned of looming catastrophe. Employees mentioned their fears began to mount after the monetary disaster that devastated Greece’s economic system in 2010. Railway staffing was sharply minimize and unions have mentioned for years that their members have been overworked and assigned to vital stations with out correct coaching expertise.
Giorgos Apostoleris, a former station grasp, recalled being transferred a couple of years in the past to Larissa on an hour’s discover. He nervous then about who could be held accountable if he made a mistake. Tragedy, he mentioned Friday, was all however inevitable. “It even took too lengthy for an accident to occur,” he mentioned in an interview.
Greek state news media reported that the Larissa station grasp had solely just lately been assigned to the put up after six months of coaching.
As just lately as final month, rail staff warned the federal government in a letter that they didn’t need to watch for a coming accident “to see them cry crocodile tears,” and that intervention was pressing.
“We’ve tried strikes for years, we’ve got instructed each authorities about these points, however we’ve got not discovered open ears,” mentioned Νikolaos Tsikalakis, a railroad switchman and the president of the employees union of the Greek nationwide railroad group. “So we got here to this tragic accident.”
Greece’s transportation minister resigned shortly after the crash, acknowledging that efforts to enhance the nation’s rail security system had been inadequate.
As Greeks laid bouquets of white roses on the rail tracks, additionally they cursed the federal government. At vigils, they lit candles and murmured that they didn’t “consider their lies” anymore. As they rode a bus within the plain on the foot of Mount Olympus, by the vans that eliminated damaged off carriages from the location of the crash, some commuters shrugged in worry.
“In the event that they solely blame a human mistake and don’t change the system,” mentioned George Gkonelas, 53, a commuter, “it’s going to occur once more.”
Chrysostomos Trimmis, Niki Kitsantonis and Giannis Giannakopoulos contributed reporting.
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