Just remember, kids: the next time that somebody tells you, “the government wouldn’t do that;” oh, yes they would.
This quote relentlessly echoed through my mind on the 28th of February, just a few days ago. On that day, my friends and I, alongside hundreds of Greeks, stood in front of the Greek Embassy in Madrid, shouting the names of the 57 victims of one of the most heinous crimes committed in our country on this day in 2023. In more than 250 cities around the world — from Mexico city to Tokyo, with the largest gathering in Athens, where more than 800.000 people flooded the Syntagma Square in front of the Parliament — Greeks protested and chanted the names of those who lost their lives in what was callously deemed “an accident.” The worst part? It was entirely preventable.
On February 28th, 2023, passenger train IC62 was travelling from Thessaloniki to Athens, packed with passengers, most of whom were university students returning home after carnival celebrations that long weekend. The train left the Larissa station on the wrong track — the same track where commercial train 63503 was headed towards Thessaloniki, carrying cargo and (as later discovered) highly flammable aromatic hydrocarbons.
At 23:22 PM, the two trains collided at Tempi, marking the deadliest train crash in Greek history: 57 dead and 85 injured. The explosion caused by the aromatic hydrocarbons sent the temperatures of the crash site soaring to over 1,300 degrees Celsius, instantly carbonising around 30 of the 57 victims.
Despite the shocking nature of the disaster, it was not-entirely unforeseen. Employees and directors of the railway network had repeatedly issued written warnings about the subpar maintenance of the railways and the glaring absence of electronic safety systems across the entire network. Josef Doppelbauer, the executive director of the European Union Agency for Railways, had been vocal about Greece’s unacceptable level of railway safety, calling the delay of the installation of the European Rail Traffic Management System until 2023 as ‘problematic.’
The government was quick to pin the crash on human error. The 59-year-old station master was arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including manslaughter by serial negligence. While he admitted to some responsibility, he stressed he was not the sole person to blame. Yet, less than ten days later — before the General National Chemistry or any investigative body could access the site and collect evidence — the crash scene was hastily covered with concrete, allegedly to aid the removal of the train wreckage and victims’ remains. By March, Kostas Karamanlis, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport at the time of the incident, resigned from his position. He was later re-elected.
In March 2024, the ruling party, Nea Dimokratia (New Democracy) submitted an extensive report attributing the accident to human error and operational protocol violations by the stationmaster and the train drivers, arguing that adherence to safety regulations could have averted the tragedy.
Opposition parties, nevertheless, condemned the government for systemic failures and political responsibilities. They accused Karamanlis of criminal negligence, citing the failure to implement security systems and delays in completing critical infrastructure projects. They also criticized the government for attempting to cover up the incident, particularly the concrete covering of the crash site, which they argued destroyed crucial evidence. In short, the opposition echoed what the victims’ families and the Greek people alike had been screaming — and would continue to protest about 2 years later: this was not an accident; this was murder.
What followed was a collective outcry against the government’s coverup, met with equally vehement denial. Officials claimed no order had been given to concrete the site. Soon after, the Vice Prime Minister, who was implicated in the alleged cover-up order, resigned, followed by the General Secretary of Civil Protection.
The station master remains under house arrest pending the conclusion of the trial, which has yet to begin. Notably, Vasilis Kalogirou, the son of the prosecutor assigned to the case, Georgia Adeilini, was found dead in February 2025, 50 days after he went missing.
The final words of one victim to their parents on the phone, “I have no oxygen” became the rallying cry of the protests on February 28th, 2025, reverberating across the globe. The protest in Athens was one of the largest in the country’s history, and yet, it was met with government disdain. The media grossly underestimated the number of attendees, with evening news reports citing 100.000 people — barely an eighth of the actual number estimated based on aerial photos. During the protests, police aggressively targeted peaceful crowds, which included elders and children, using high-pressure water hoses to disperse them. Some officers, disguised in civilian clothing, hurled flash-bang grenades into the crowds. It is important to note: the crowds caused no damage, violence, or rioting.
As a Greek national around the same age as most of victims, it is horrifying to witness national media downplay the scale of the public outcry while televising politicians claiming that the victims’ families are seeking justice only because they will gain more in pecuniary damages if the event is deemed a crime instead of an accident. It devastates me to see how our government’s negligence has caused immeasurable pain — and to know that I am not among those victims by sheer luck. It devastates me further to see the same government refuse to take responsibility, acting like a child caught in a lie, doubling down to avoid the naughty corner.
It is excruciating to watch justice and democracy wither in the land that gave birth to them. But we must keep fighting — for justice, for democracy, for all those values now on their deathbed. This train crash is not the cause but the catalyst for people to demonstrate that collective will and power are stronger than any government. That humanity transcends political orientation, race, or age.
I have no oxygen.
Featured image provided by @ridesharegui on Reddit.
