Athens youth rally for train crash victims
STORY: Organized by Communist Party youth, some held a silent, seated protest while others wrote the words ‘their profits – our dead’ with electric candles on the pavement. Some also used schoolbags to write the words, ‘I will not forget’ on the ground. At the end of the protest lit lanterns were released into the night sky in memory of the crash victims.
The protest is one of several in the last days in Athens and other cities in the country amid anger over the collision, which the government has blamed on human error.
A station master has been charged over the accident, which saw a passenger train with more than 350 people on board collide with a freight train on the same track in northern Greece near the city of Larissa on February 28.
The train, traveling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki, was packed with students returning after a long holiday weekend.
Rescuers continued digging through debris on Saturday at the site but were expected to wrap up their search operation later in the day.
Railway workers' unions say deficient safety systems and understaffing are widespread throughout the rail network.
