Every year, about 1,000 railway accidents occur in the United States. With the East Palestine derailment, these instances have received renewed attention. While Americans try to figure out how to prevent such calamities, another country is in mourning following its own train accident.
On Tuesday, February 28, a freight train and a passenger train shared the same track in Greece for at least 12 minutes. They collided in Tempe Valley shortly before midnight in a fatal incident. The accident occurred towards the conclusion of the country’s first carnival holiday in four years. The passenger train from Athens to Thessaloniki was packed with young people.
On Thursday, March 2, authorities stated that at least 57 people had died. Relatives of missing people gave DNA samples at hospitals in the aim of finding their loved ones.
In the aftermath of the crash, police in Larissa arrested a station master, who allegedly directed the trains to the same track. Authorities charged him with “causing grievous bodily harm through negligence” and “causing mass deaths through negligence,” The Washington Post reported.
The latest on the #Greece train crash.
— Nick Beake (@Beaking_News) March 2, 2023
We’re in the city of #Larissa where a 59 yr old station master is appearing in court later charged with manslaughter by negligence.
But many Greeks believe this was an accident waiting to happen – a result of longstanding systemic failings pic.twitter.com/EZpSBOd6hH
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis assured Greeks that an independent panel will be formed. According to the Associated Press, he has stated that such a catastrophe will “never again” occur. The accident, according to the Prime Minister, was caused by “tragic human error.”
Following the incident, Transportation Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned, claiming that the country’s railway infrastructure was “not up to 21st-century standards” and that, while his office had made modifications, they were insufficient.
In addition to the scores that killed, more than 80 people were injured. When all is said and done, Greek authorities still do not know the precise death toll.
