Star Metro - Outrage as Greece admits 'failures' after fatal train crash

About 700 demonstrators massed outside the Athens headquarters of Greek rail operator Hellenic Train to voice outrage and sorrow over the country's worst-ever rail disaster.

The crowd held a moment of silence to honour victims who died in the wreckage near Larissa in central Greece, where a freight train and passenger train, carrying more than 350 people, collided head on late on Tuesday.

"We are angry at the company, at the government and past governments that did nothing to improve conditions in the Greek railway," said pensioner Stavros Nantis at the protest.

Police said a protest in the northern city of Thessaloniki turned violent, with demonstrators throwing stones and petrol bombs.

Striking rail workers paralysed Greece's train services on Thursday in protest at successive administrations' management of the network, saying that had contributed to the fatal collision.

Announcing the 24-hour shutdown, the rail union federation denounced a "lack of respect towards Greece's rail network by successive governments over the years, which led to this tragic result".

Government spokesman Yiannis Economou said an inquiry would examine the "chronic delays in implementing railway works -- delays caused by chronic public sector malaise and decades of failure".

Authorities have pointed to "human error" in seeking to explain the train collision, in which two carriages were demolished and a buffet car caught fire, trapping many victims inside.

"I believe the responsibility, the negligence, the error has been confessed by the station master," Economou told reporters in Athens.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is seeking re-election this spring, said after visiting the crash site on Wednesday: "Everything shows that the drama was, sadly, mainly due to a tragic human error."

- 'Negligence' -

But train sector unions say security problems on the Athens-Thessaloniki railway line had been known for years.

The lawyer for the 59-year-old station master, who has been charged with negligent homicide, said his client has admitted partial responsibility for the crash but stressed there were other factors at play.

"My client has assumed his share of responsibility. But we must not focus on a tree when there is a forest behind it," lawyer Stefanos Pantzartzidis said on Thursday.

State broadcaster ERT has noted that the station master was only appointed to the post 40 days ago after a training course that lasted just three months.

For decades, Greece's 2,552-kilometre (1,585-mile) rail network has been plagued by mismanagement, poor maintenance and obsolete equipment.

The country's transport minister resigned on Wednesday.

His replacement on Thursday offered "apologies" to families of the victims and vowed a "complete evaluation of the political system and the state".

"I want to say, looking these people straight in the eye, that there will be an inquiry and everything will be presented to Greek citizens," Giorgos Gerapetritis said.

Safety systems on the Athens-Thessaloniki line are still not fully automated, five years after the state-owned Greek rail operator Trainose was privatised and sold to Italy's Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane and became Hellenic Train.

The company said on Wednesday it was working with the authorities and had offered "financial support" to the passengers.

Newspaper front pages played up the alleged shortcomings, with the headline of Kathimerini saying "The dead want answers".

- 'Crumpled like paper' -

Angry demonstrators had rallied outside the Athens office of Hellenic Train on Wednesday evening.

Police used tear gas to disperse those protesters.

US President Joe Biden offered his condolences on Thursday for the "tragic train accident", adding: "We wish those injured a quick and full recovery."

The passenger train ran for several kilometres on the same track as an incoming freight train, reportedly after the station master in Larissa failed to reroute one of the trains.

Survivors described scenes of horror and chaos when the crash occurred.

Many dodged smashed glass and debris as the train keeled over and broke windows to climb out.

The train's buffet car burst into flames, with temperatures inside reaching 1,300 degrees Celsius (2,370 Fahrenheit), the fire department said.

For hours after the collision it was not immediately clear how many people were on board, complicating efforts to determine how many are missing.

Roubini Leontari, the chief coroner at Larissa's general hospital, told ERT on Thursday that over 10 people were still unaccounted for, including two Cyprus nationals.

Hospitals in three cities -- Larissa, Thessaloniki and Katerini -- were treating the dozens of wounded, six of whom were in intensive care.

Hundreds of people gathered in Larissa to donate blood needed to treat the injured.

The tragedy will loom large in the prime minister's coming re-election bid. Mitsotakis is expected to announce an election for April.

G.Boudreau--SMC