violent clashes between police and demonstrators

Demonstrators throw molotov cocktails, the police respond with tear gas. In Athens, violent clashes took place on the sidelines of a demonstration, five days after a train tragedy. The anger does not fall, despite the apologies of the Prime Minister. “We want this government, the next, the previous, to change their way of thinking. Stop looking at profits and start looking at people’s lives,” thunders a protester. A few hours earlier, the demonstrators had released hundreds of black balloons, in memory of the 57 victims of the collision between a train and a convoy of goods.

Hellenic Train implicated

Most of the victims were students returning to Thessaloniki after a long weekend. The images of crying parents have contributed to the rise of anger against the government and its management of the country deemed calamitous.

The station master, who recognized a switching error, was placed in police custody and faces between ten years in prison and life imprisonment. But the anger is mainly directed against Hellenic Train, the national railway company. The investigation could lead to legal action against the company.