Police and protesters face off into the night in Athens after clashes on rail disaster anniversary

(28 Feb 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Athens, Greece - 28 February 2025
++DUSK/NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Wide of tear gas cloud with riot police walking past camera
2. Demonstrator playing guitar being pushed by riot police
3. Wide of riot police
4. Various of riot police walking toward retreating demonstrators, UPSOUND explosions
5. Top shot of people in Syntagma Square
6. Various of riot police and protesters in front of parliament with small explosions
7. Various of riot police walking forward with protesters retreating
8. Wide of parliament
9. Various of police and protesters
10. Wide of Acropolis behind buildings
STORYLINE:
Police faced off with protesters into the night in Athens following mass demonstrations on Friday to mark the second anniversary of a devastating train crash.

Authorities said at least 41 people were arrested and 20 received medical attention during violence earlier in the day outside Greece's parliament building and through nearby streets.

Police used water cannons to clear crowds and fired volleys of tear gas and stun grenades.

Hundreds of thousands of people joined rallies across Greece to demand justice for the 57 people killed on Feb. 28, 2023, when a passenger train collided head-on with a freight train.

The protests have been fueled by public resentment against the conservative government’s perceived inaction.

Unions called a general strike in support of the mass mobilization led by the victims' relatives.

Flights and rail services were canceled, ferries halted and public transportation across the country was severely disrupted.

Private businesses and public services have also been affected, with many stores in Athens closed, leaving messages of solidarity for the victims’ families in front windows.

Demonstrations were taking place in more than 300 cities and towns in Greece and abroad.

Critics say that politicians should be held accountable for failures that led up to the collision, but so far only rail officials have been charged with any crimes.

The disaster in Tempe — the worst railway accident in Greece's history — left dozens injured and exposed deficiencies in transportation infrastructure.

The mountainous country is largely road-reliant and the nation’s railway system is centered around a single route between Athens and the second-largest city, Thessaloniki.

A long-awaited report on the investigation into the crash, released on Thursday, blamed human error, outdated infrastructure and major systemic failures for the head-on collision.

The aftermath was marked by scenes of chaos, with surviving passengers describing tumbling carriages, fires and smashed windows as they scrambled to escape.

It was followed by the task of victim recovery and identification as many bodies were severely burned or dismembered.

Funerals were held across numerous communities throughout Greece, many streamed or broadcast live, turning private grief into a shared national experience.

AP video shot by Lefteris Pitarakis, Boris Pilipenko and Michael Varaklas

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