Thousands of Greek students are protesting for a third consecutive day as anger mounts after the country’s worst train tragedy, in which at least 57 people died.
In Athens, some 2,000 people, mostly university students of similar ages to the crash victims, gathered in the city centre on Friday.
Similar protests were to be held in Larissa, near the site of the disaster, Thessaloniki and Patras.
Black sheets were draped at the entrances of several universities. In Larissa, white roses were thrown at the tracks of the local train station.
Frustration is boiling as protesters blast successive governments for failing to improve rail network safety.
The country was rocked on Tuesday as a passenger train collided with a freight train just before midnight, after running on the same track for several kilometres.
Many of those on board, estimated to be more than 350 people, are still unaccounted for. Most of the victims were students in their 20s returning from a long weekend.
Authorities suggested “human error” to explain the train collision, in which two carriages were demolished and a buffet car caught fire, trapping many victims inside.
The Larissa station master on duty at the time of the disaster has been arrested and charged with negligent homicide. He has accepted partial responsibility for failing to reroute the trains, and faces a possible life sentence if convicted.
Train unionists have said safety problems on the Athens-Thessaloniki railway line have been known for years.
Source : Aljazeera
