11 o’ clock sharp the commemoration event for the victims of the train crash tragedy in Tempi started at Syntagma Square in an emotionally loaded atmosphere. The name and the age of each one of the 57 victims was called with the crowd shouting “Immortal!”
A minute of silence was held, a minimum tribute to those who were killed because of chronic state shortcomings and governments’ indifference.
When the president of the Victims’ relatives association “Tempi 2023” Maria Karystianou appeared at the podium with a makeshift placate reading “I have no oxygen” the crowd shouted “Murderers! Murderers!”
Karystianoy: “I address the murderers of our children (who spoke of sacrifice) You insulted and treated our dead with disrespect. You committed the greatest insolence and you will receive what is due through the pulse of nemesis.”
28. February 2023 – 28 February 2025: The victims’ names at the steps of Syntagma Sq.
A tragedy that could have been avoided had the railway network been modernized, had the railway staff be better trained. 30 of the 57 victims were between 15 and 29 years old.
Unprecedented high participation: Initial police estimations give 100,000 people, but the picture on the ground, the crowds filling the streets suggest much more than this number.
It must be the biggest demonstration in Greece since 1989.
#28_Φλεβαρη #τεμπη_εγκλημα
Λεωφόρος Αμαλίας
Δεν τη θυμάμαι ποτέ με τόσο κόσμο
🎥@PAMEhellas pic.twitter.com/VjtOccMoXY— Yannis Bogiopoulos (@YBoyio) February 28, 2025
The crowd that keeps coming to Syntagma Sq shouts “Justice!” and “Oxygen!”
Young and old, even kindergarten kids have join the protest in Athens, state broadcaster ERT reported.
Anger mounts in the Greek society and it’s more than “Justice” for the Tempi victims, demands for transparency in the investigation and that those responsible are brought behind bars, demands to end the government cover-up. It is anger in the society for the ongoing high prices, the collapse of the public health care system, of the education, of the infrastructure. Citizens feel that they have been left alone to deal with every aspect of life, while the government paints rosy pictures of a country … somewhere else.
Two years after the train tragedy safety in the railway network has not been restored yet.
Live from Syntagma Square in Athens
According to first police estimations, at least 100,000 people are at Syntagma sq. in Athens. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of Greeks are on the streets today, over 385 rallies in Greece and abroad. According to unconfirmed reports there were 800,000 people before the riots broke out.
Thessaloniki
Kavala
Arta
Patra
Public and private sectors stand still, with the majority be on 24-hour strike.
I have never seen such a mobilization and a huge turn out before, where even bakeries, supermarkets and kiosks have at least a 3-hour break to honor the memory of the victims, to demonstrate their opposition to a government that doesn’t seem to give a damn to the citizens’ needs.
See more about the Tempi disaster and the strike in Greece on February 28, HERE at KTG.
Pictures, Videos: avgi.gr, #28 Φλεβαρη on X, thetoc, other media
A moving and thoughtful report. Thank you. And may the souls of those gone finally RIP when justice is done. Bless them all.
Vale, 57 victims, including 12 railway workers. Amazing scenes in Nafpaktos as well, with all businesses closed, as you reported, and all ages and political persuasion. Surely justice will be served soon with the grieving families able to find some sense of closure. The families are showing such strength and courage, too.