Victims' families denounce railway negligence at Tempi trial in Larissa
At the Larissa court hearing, relatives of the 57 Tempi victims described systemic safety failures that turned the railway into a "moving bomb" and demanded accountability.
In the Larissa criminal court, families of the 57 people killed in the Tempi train crash gave harrowing accounts that pinpointed a cascade of neglect within the railway network. They argued that the abandonment of automated safety mechanisms, chronic understaffing, and the dismissal of employee alerts turned the line into a "moving bomb." The testimonies accused the investigative authorities of destroying biological material before autopsy reports were completed and of failing to identify unknown remains for months.
Senior executives responsible for implementing Contract 717 and high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport were said to have escaped indictment, while the GSM-R digital radio system and telecontrol were described as fundamentally defective. The relatives concluded that every level of government sacrificed passenger safety for profit and called for the imprisonment of all responsible parties.
Why it matters
The case highlights systemic railway safety failures and government accountability for a major national tragedy.
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