Advertisement

Greek protesters clash with police after train crash

STORY: Greek police clashed with around a thousand protesters outside a branch of the country’s rail network a day after at least 38 people were killed when two trains collided head on, north of Athens.

Some hurled stones at windows of the offices of Hellenic Train and police in riot gear dispersed them with tear gas.

Earlier in the evening, things had been more peaceful with a candlelight vigil nearby.

‘The students have gathered here outside the office with a lot of rage,’ said one student protester, "shocked by what happened today where so many lives and souls were lost.”

Hellenic Train said it had suspended all trains scheduled to run Thursday after railway workers said they would strike.

Their union said that repeated calls for more permanent staff, training, and modern security technology had been ignored.

A station master has been arrested in the wake of a crash passengers described as ‘nightmarish’ that engulfed their train in flames just before midnight.

Authorities are trying to work out how the trains collided – they say the two trains had been on the same track ‘for many kilometers’

A police official says the 59-yeear-old station master has denied any responsibility for the crash, attributing it to a possible technical failure.

The country’s transport minister, however, has submitted his resignation, saying he took responsibility for the state’s quote ‘long-standing failures’ to fix a system of railways he says were not fit for the 21st century.

Hellenic Train data shows the passenger train carried more than 300 passengers and 10 crew, with two crew on the cargo train.

A fire brigade official said 66 of those injured were hospitalized – with at least six in intensive care.