The state will not pursue legal challenges to any financial compensations awarded by courts to relatives of the victims of the Tempi train tragedy, Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said on Tuesday.
The minister’s announcement came a day after a court awarded 400,000 euros in damages to four victims’ relatives in the first ruling of this kind, that is to attribute responsibility to the state for the deadly crash that killed 57 people.
It is a common practice that the Greek state challenges legally court decisions that grant compensations to victims of actions caused by state institutions. The process is long and very expensive for the victims even if they ultimately win their case against the state.
In an interview with ANT1 Tv, Pierrakakis said “The State will not pursue legal remedies regarding compensation for the Tempi tragedy. This does not mean that we endorse the reasoning of the court decision, but rather that we fully respect the pain of the victims’ families.”
He noted that this was the decision of the Prime Minister and the government.
“We know very well – and I personally know – that no compensation can bring back a loved one, but the minimum obligation, the minimum duty of the state is to extend a helping hand and not point a finger, as we had said in the past,” the minister added.
The Administrative Court of First Instance of Athens granted 100,000 euros to each of the four family members, who filed a lawsuit against the Greek state and the national railway operator, OSE, in April 2024.
According to the family’s lawyer, the decision marks the first time a court has held the state liable for the tragedy, citing the poor condition of the country’s railway network.
The lawsuit was brought by relatives of a father and his minor son who were among those killed in the collision.
The case was heard after several delays, with the ruling issued on March 27.
The Court found that the Greek state, through the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, had long been aware of dangerous and wholly inadequate conditions on the railway network yet “exercised supervision poorly and ineffectively,” causally contributing through its unlawful omission to an outcome “that could have been prevented.”
The ruling is final as the government declared it will not appeal cases arising from the Tempi train tragedy of February 28, 2023.
