High school students gather during a demonstration in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens, March 10, 2023 (Louisa GOULIAMAKI / AFP)
More than two weeks after the train crash that killed 57 people, more than 40,000 Greeks took to the streets on Thursday to express their anger as a general strike left the country largely paralyzed.
After a large rally of 40,000 people in Athens on March 8, more than 25,000 people found themselves in several demonstrations in the center of the capital, according to the police.
In the middle of the day, protesters came to roar their anger outside the Hellenic Train railway company’s headquarters, AFP noted, as they had already done three days after the collision between a passenger train connecting Athens to Thessaloniki (north) and a Convoy of goods on the evening of February 28, shouting “murderer”.
In Thessaloniki, the large university city in the north from which many of the victims came, around 8,500 people also gathered in the middle of the day.
“We will not stop being on the streets until those responsible for this tragedy are punished,” said philosophy student Zoe Konstantinidou. “They don’t care about our lives,” she adds, while distrust of the Conservative government continues unabated.
After the clashes on March 8, the demonstrators responded to calls from public sector unions, but for the first time also from the private sector, by threatening renewed violence.
“Things need to change in this country,” said Stravoula Ghatzieleftheriou, a private sector worker in Athens. “We cannot regret so many deaths, the recent accident (the deadly fire in 2018) of Mati, the forest fires” in the summer of 2021.
“We hope that things will change with the elections,” which have to take place by July, she adds.
After several small demonstrations in the days after the train crash, about 65,000 people protested on March 8, some calling on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to resign.
Greece was also largely paralyzed on Thursday, especially in terms of traffic. All boats connecting the mainland to the islands remain docked for 24 hours and most aircraft remain on the tarmac.
According to the Minister of Transport, rail traffic should only be gradually resumed from March 22nd.
Relatives of victims of the train accident in Greece lay flowers and candles at the scene of the accident near Larissa (Greece), March 9, 2023 (Sakis MITROLIDIS / AFP)
Many schools are also closed, while students who have been at the forefront of this unprecedented wave of protests since the financial crisis years also took part in the processions in large numbers.
Fed up
Aside from the train disaster that rocked the country, Greeks are howling that they are fed up with the deteriorating public services in a country bled dry by years of crisis and austerity plans imposed by its creditors.
Because if the Tempé railway accident in the center of the country was attributed to a mistake by the station master, it was also caused by the dilapidated state of the rail network and the severe delays in modernization, particularly signaling, which are the first elements of the investigation.
A young protester throws stones and Molotov cocktails at the Greek Parliament and law enforcement agencies in Athens on March 8, 2023 (Louisa GOULIAMAKI / AFP)
Greeks are holding their leaders accountable, accused of negligence.
Struck by the disaster, the prime minister tried to respond to the outrage of a population that has largely lost confidence in institutions since the 2008-2018 crisis.
He promised “total transparency” in the ongoing investigation and repeatedly asked the victims’ families for forgiveness.
“Murderer”
This anger movement is particularly strong among young people and students, while many have been victims in higher education.
“Tears (…) have turned into anger, the new generation will not forgive you,” read one of the banners in the center of Athens.
Demonstrators carry a sign that reads “assassin” in Athens, March 12, 2023 (ANGELOS TZORTZINIS / AFP)
The protesters hold up signs that read “Call me when you arrive,” a message from a mother to her child that has become the slogan of this protest.
Many young people believe that they have fallen victim to the drastic austerity measures of the crisis years.
In its most recent editorial, the liberal daily Kathimerini spoke of this “bankrupt and pandemic generation”.
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