Greece’s Railway Tragedy: An Investigation into the Government’s Role in Covering Up Evidence

On the evening of February 28, 2023, a serious train accident occurred in Greece, when a freight train collided with an Intercity near the central Greek city of Larisa. This tragic event resulted in the death of 57 people and deeply shocked the country, especially as many of the victims were young people returning to universities after a public holiday.

The opposition parties in Greece, including Pasok, accused the government of manipulating evidence and called for a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The motion was rejected by the Greek Parliament late on Thursday evening, with 159 MPs voting against it and 141 parliamentarians voting in favor.

The focus of the motion was on the poor conditions of the railway network and inadequate safety precautions that led to the accident. The Larisa station manager confessed before the judiciary that he directed the Intercity onto the wrong track. The opposition argued that the government had covered up evidence and misled public opinion by claiming that other factors were responsible for the accident.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis admitted that there were shortcomings in railways’ safety systems but argued that if only more precautions had been taken by station managers like Larisa’s then it wouldn’t have happened. However, Mitsotakis acknowledged that his government bears some responsibility for this incident because they did not take enough care about railways safety systems and they didn’t investigate properly about this accident which happened under their rule period . Currently, The investigation is still ongoing to determine when this tragic incident will be dealt with in court.