[ad_1]
© Reuters. A crane lifts elements of a destroyed carriage as rescuers function on the location of a crash, the place two trains collided, close to the town of Larissa, Greece, March 2, 2023. REUTERS/Kostas Mantziaris
ATHENS (Reuters) – The station grasp of Greece’s Larissa metropolis, who was charged on Thursday over the nation’s worst prepare crash, assumes some duty for the catastrophe however different components had been additionally at play, his lawyer mentioned.
On Tuesday night, a passenger prepare with greater than 350 individuals on board collided head-on with a freight prepare close to the town of Larissa, some 220 miles north of the capital Athens. The trains had been travelling in reverse instructions on the identical monitor.
The 59-year previous station grasp was arrested hours later.
Greek railway unions have lengthy complained of slipping security requirements which place each passengers and staff in danger.
The detainee, who in accordance with Greek state media reviews was assigned his position a couple of month in the past, appeared earlier than a prosecutor on Thursday morning. Felony expenses had been laid in opposition to him for disrupting transport and placing lives in danger, his lawyer Stefanos Pantzartzidis mentioned outdoors the courthouse.
“He’s actually devastated,” Pantzartzidis advised reporters. “Because the first second, he has assumed duty proportionate to him … he isn’t ready to say the rest.”
Pantzartzidis mentioned that his consumer adopted the prevailing process partially and he may have been “presumably extra cautious, which he accepts and takes duty for, however till there”. He added that “there was convergent negligence by many different components”.
Pantzartzidis didn’t specify which components he believed had been at play within the accident or give particulars about what procedures his consumer had not adopted. Authorities haven’t made public the title of the accused.
The person, who in accordance with a police official had initially denied wrongdoing, attributing the incident to a technical failure, was anticipated to answer the fees on Saturday.
A retired prepare driver teacher, Nikos Tsouridis, advised state TV earlier on Thursday that the station grasp was skilled however inexperienced.
“They’ll pile every part on the station grasp. He was skilled, however inexperienced. They need to by no means have assigned him to a central station like Larissa, and on his personal.”
“He had accomplished his coaching, however he had been there (in that place) for a month.”
Greece’s railway is practical primarily due to the skilled drivers and station masters, Tsouridis mentioned.
“The railroad solely works as we speak due to the drivers, as a result of they’re nicely skilled, and employees,” he mentioned. Pantsartzidis didn’t say how lengthy his consumer had been within the job in Larissa, one of many largest cities in Greece.
“PASS THE RED SIGNAL”
A recording of the communication between the prepare driver and the station grasp which was printed on Proto Thema web site advised the latter advised the driving force to proceed previous a purple sign.
“Is Larissa listening?” the driving force mentioned referring to the station grasp, in accordance with the recording.
“It’s listening… go the purple sign on the exit till the doorway sign at Neoi Poroi (station),” the station grasp responded.
However that order didn’t strike the driving force as unusual because the signalling system had been dysfunctional, Proto Thema reported.
Station masters are employed by OSE, the Greek railway infrastructure operator, whereas prepare drivers are employed by Hellenic Practice, a subsidiary of Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane.
Earlier on Thursday, authorities spokesman Giannis Oikonomou mentioned “the station grasp had confessed to negligence” and that the prepare crash was attributable to a human error.
However Greece, he mentioned, additionally wants to look at what may have been carried out over time to stop this crash.
[ad_2]