A general strike in Greece stopped trains and ferries on Friday, based on flights and disturbed public services while thousands of workers started off work on the second anniversary Greece the worst railway disaster.
The 24-hour walk, called Greece by two main unions, is the latest in a series of public protests for withdrawing a collision investigation, which killed 57 people. It still exists long -lasting anger in the country During the failure of the Government to put any of his politicians under control over the loss of life.
Here’s what to know about the strike and permanent anger about the accident.
What does the strike mean?
The strike includes workers in the public and private sector.
The rally is planned for Athens and across Greece, as well as in other cities in Europe, and protesters urged to blame themselves in a collision to punish and to improve the safety of the railway.
All commercial flights to and from the Greek airports will be grounded and ferries or trains will not be started. Limited public transport will work in Athens to allow the demonstrants to reach the set. Although taxi drivers join the strike, some volunteers will offer protesters free of charge at the rallies.
Schools and hospitals will also influence while teachers and healthcare professionals join the action. Ambulance lawyers planned to get out, while many stores were expected to close. Several popular artists have canceled the planned shows.
What happened in the train accident?
On the night of February 28, 2023. The passenger train and a freight train collided on the route that connected Athens to the North Luka Solun. Many of the 57 people who died in a collision were Young students who come back from the holiday weekend.
At that time, the Greek authorities blamed the human mistake, saying that the mistake of directing the masters of the station put a passenger train on the same path as the transport train. But they also admitted that they were missing in Greek railway infrastructure and delays in installing modern security systems that could prevent disasters.
The deadly episode has started for days of protest because people have required responsibility and greater rail security.
Two years later, questions remain about the exact circumstances of the collision.
A Report of the Independent Administration for Railway and Air Investigation Setting after a tragedy, whose The results were published on ThursdayThey found that delays in installing electronic signaling and remote control systems played a key role in the collision, as well as chronic underestimation and insufficient funding arising from a decrease in the decade of the financial crisis of Greece.
The report also criticized Greek authorities for the wrong mapping place of the collision, which is a factor, which he said resulting in a loss of “potentially vital information”.
Investigators added that the “huge fiery ball” from the collision, which was probably killed five to seven victims, may have been an insidious “unknown fuel so far.” They called for a further investigation into it.
Polling stations spent in recent weeks showed that most people in the country were unhappy with government handling a disaster.
Many Also doubt Covering who was the responsible-the government of the government denies, accusing the opposition parties of exploiting public sensitivity for political benefit.
How did the authorities answered?
Greece has achieved some progress in improving rail safety from collision. The Greek Minister for Infrastructure and Traffic, Christos Staikouras, said on Thursday in Greek television that modern signals and remote control systems have been added to the entire Athens-Tessaloniki route after the accident, and the job ended by September 2023.
However, the cyclone later damaged the systems that month, leaving them completely functional on the “significant part” of that route. He said the damage would be repaired until the summer of 2026. And that Greece was working on a plan agreed with the European Commission for Improving Training for Railway Workers.
But the European Commission said in December These disadvantages still existed, including failure to respect the 2016 European Union Railway Safety Directive. “Disadvantages are systemic and also stem from a lack of security culture within the organizations involved,” it said.
Authorities have announced that a court investigation is continued who could be responsible for the collision. The dozens who have been explored so far are mostly railway officers.
The biggest burden has fallen on one person: the master of the station, now 61 years old, who has been charged with a guidance error that has put the passenger train on the same line as a freight train.
He is facing accusations of endangering the safety of transportation and multiple points of negligence of murder and bodily injuries. But many in the country thought it was fascinated by the system failures that were guilty of tragedy.
