With five days delay, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis apologized for the train crash that claimed the lives of 57 people. His apology was not on an address to the nation but on a Facebook post where he usually makes a …weekly review. A kind of administrative wrap up to reduce the damage control for his New Democracy government as his initial claim of “human error” caused only widespread anger.
Short time after Mitsotakis’ post, riot police fired massively tear gas and threw stun grenades at peaceful protesters outside the Parliament in downtown Athens following a call by train workers’ unions.
Many of the protesters had their children, aged below 10, with them.
The “usual suspects” some people with hoods reportedly started throwing molotov cocktails and stones at the riot police. The rest is what we, in Greece, have witnessed 1,000 times during peaceful protests against governments.
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The protest was quickly dissolved as protesters started running in panic to escape the suffocating atmosphere, Skai TV reported.
Mitsotakis apology
“We cannot, will not, and must not hide behind a human error,” distancing himself from his initial claim hours after the deadly head-on train collision and apologized to victims’ families.
“As prime minister I owe everyone, but above all to the relatives of the victims, a huge APOLOGY, both personally and in the name of all who governed the country over the years. Because, truly, it cannot be that in Greece in 2023, two trains were moving in opposite directions on the same track and no one was any the wiser.”
“If the tele-management project had been completed, it would have been practically impossible for this fatal accident to occur. The fact that the Digital Control System will be fully operational within the next few months is no excuse. It makes my pain even greater that we did not have time to complete it before the misfortune occurred.”
He gave assurance that justice will investigate swiftly and attribute responsibility, adding that the minister in charge will announce measures within the next few days to immediately improve railroad safety until the electronic systems are completed.”
PM’s apology on Sunday triggered an outrage among opposition parties and on social media, with the first claiming he has no right to apologize for them and for the indifference his government showed to the train workers’ warning in the last 4 years in power.
“His apology is not sincere, it was written by his PR advisers,” SYRIZA spokeswoman noted.
sharp criticism came also from PASOK.
Election next month then?
“We cannot, will not, and must not hide behind a human error,”
He’s a very contemptible creature. I hope he and his party are soon severely trounced
Who are the “usual suspects” – do they include agent provocateurs ?
Does anyone know what the cargo was on the southbound freight train?