Victims' families testify as court weighs phone seizure in Tempi crash case

In the Larissa Criminal Appeals Court, relatives of victims from the Tempi train crash continue to give evidence, with the daughter of the late driver Georgios Koutsoumpas describing an alleged eleven-minute gap in communications between stationmasters and drivers before the accident. Three hearings are scheduled this week, including testimony from Maria Karystianou, mother of another victim. Concurrently, the court is expected to decide on a prosecutor’s request to seize and forensic-examine the night-shift stationmaster’s mobile phone, authorising analysis of inbound and outbound calls, SMS, MMS, data-bearing apps such as Viber, and recovery of deleted files.

The accused, defended by Stefanos Pantzaridis, is among 36 former and current officials from OSE, ERGOSE Hellenic Train, RA and the Ministry of Transport charged with dangerous interference in rail traffic, an offense punishable by up to life imprisonment. The ruling could clarify responsibility for the disaster that caused numerous deaths, injuries and extensive infrastructure damage.