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Tens of thousands of people are expected to join protests and strikes as Greece marks the second anniversary of a fatal train crash, the fallout of which has put the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in the line of fire.
As experts attributed the disaster to oversights and major systemic failures, organisers vowed that Friday’s demonstrations, which coincide with nationwide industrial action, would be on a scale not seen in years.
Fifty-seven people, almost all students, were killed, and dozens more were injured when an intercity passenger train collided head-on with a cargo locomotive in the valley of Tempe on 28 February 2023. It was the worst rail accident in Greece’s history.
Petros Constantinou, a prominent leftwing activist, said: “What we are seeing is a river of outrage swelling by the minute. Citizens feel duped. They want answers, they want justice and they want to support the families of the victims. Everyone believes this will be the biggest show of people power in this country in decades.”
On the eve of the protests, Nikos Androulakis, the leader of the Pasok party, Greece’s main opposition, accused the government of “deceiving” the Greek people and “doing everything they could to conceal their political responsibilities”.
He said he would file a motion of no confidence in the government next week, adding to pressure on Mitsotakis.
Not since he first won office in July 2019 has Mitsotakis, a former banker, confronted such unrest. Public anger over the response to the crash – not least a decision to rapidly clean up the site and remove debris that included vital evidence and human remains – has been exacerbated by the perceived and growing sense of a government cover-up.
Within days of the crash, in a move that has yet to be fully explained, the Greek authorities rushed to gravel over and cement the area.
Accusations of political interference in the investigation have been aggravated by the glacial pace with which justice has been meted out: a trial has yet to be held and no government official has faced censure or been made accountable for the tragedy.
A 178-page report released by an independent investigative committee on Thursday found that while most of the victims had died as a result of the high-impact crash – blamed initially on a station master erroneously placing the two trains on the same track – as many as seven people were incinerated in the huge explosion that ensued. The report cited “the possible presence” of an “unknown fuel” at the scene – findings that will boost claims, already voiced by investigators hired by the victims’ families, that the freight train was carrying a highly flammable illegal substance.
In the report, commissioned by relatives, experts referred to an unreported load of explosive chemicals on the cargo train – claims echoed by some EU diplomats.
Mitsotakis has, until recently, proved adroit at handling crises – a talent that has helped reinforce a sense of political stability.
But analysts told the Guardian that in a political climate that had become increasingly unpredictable and toxic, passions were running so high that placating public sentiment was now proving hard. One poll, released by MRB, revealed that 81.1 % of respondents did not believe the government had done enough to shed light on the tragedy, reflecting the growing distrust in public institutions and the judiciary.
“This is the first time in six years that Mitsotakis is facing such huge, social opposition,” said the political commentator, Maria Karaklioumi. “For the first time we are seeing people mobilising in a way they haven’t done in years and what happens next is unpredictable.”
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She said the anger of the crash had played into wider concernsabout the cost of living and the poor standard of public services. “It has gone beyond Tempe and swelled into a much bigger crisis,” she said.
It was, she said, “as if the government is in paralysis”, unable to deal with the fallout produced by the tragedy. “It has yet to come up with a plan for a modern railway system, for example, and that has angered Greeks even more.”
Protests will be held across 200 towns and cities nationwide. Diaspora communities, from Canada to Australia, have announced similar demonstrations in a sign of the fury the disaster has spurred. The country’s civil protection minister predicted that in downtown Athens alone more than 5,000 police and other security officials will be dispatched “to ensure the safety of the protests”. An estimated 120,000 people crammed into the capital’s main square in January when organisers held earlier protests in an unexpected display of anger over the disaster.
“The Tempe tragedy is a national drama which should unite our society under a common demand: the demand for truth and justice,” Mitsotakis told his cabinet on Wednesday, acknowledging the depth of feeling the crash has generated.
But he also warned of the risk of the protests being “weaponised” to destabilise the country.
“Some would like to turn this collective mourning into an opportunity for new division,” he said, citing the “ghastly messages” circulating on the internet. “We have a duty to prevent any questioning of the internal stability and normality of our country. Those who see Friday as a turning point for violent upheaval will find us standing in opposition.”
