The Greek capital, Athens, witnessed angry demonstrations, against the backdrop of a two-train collision a few days ago, killing 57 people, while the Prime Minister asked the people for forgiveness.

The demonstrations included confrontations between the demonstrators and the police, who used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.

In Larissa, the city closest to the scene of the accident, Vassilis Samaras, 59, the train station manager, gave his statement to the court on Sunday, and was subsequently placed in pretrial detention, according to a judicial source told AFP.

The man, whose identity was revealed by the Ministry of Transport, admitted his responsibility for the collision between two trains that traveled for many kilometers in opposite directions on the same railway linking Athens and Thessaloniki, the two largest Greek cities, before they collided with each other last Tuesday evening, killing 57 people.

During the station director's appearance before the investigating judge, about 12,000 people were demonstrating in the large Syntagma Square in front of the parliament in the Greek capital, carrying banners reading "Down with murderous governments!" and "It was not a human error!"

On Sunday, demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails, while police responded by throwing tear gas and stun grenades in the center of the Greek capital, according to Agence France-Presse correspondents.

The demonstrators released hundreds of black balloons in honor of the victims of the disaster.

Clashes between demonstrators and the police over the collision of the two trains (Reuters)

Protesters distributed leaflets showing the face of conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and writing in red, "Desired Minister of Crime".

Since the day after the disaster, Greeks have taken to the streets to express their anger, accusing the authorities of negligence and condemning the deterioration of the railway infrastructure.

The disaster caused tragedy in Greece, especially since a large number of the victims were young students returning from a long weekend to Thessaloniki, the large university city in the north.

Tragic footage broadcast on television of the families of the victims crying in front of a hospital, desperately waiting for information about the fate of their children, contributed to increasing the blame on the authorities and their administration, which was considered disastrous.

request for forgiveness

In turn, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked for forgiveness from the families of the victims in an official speech on Sunday morning, before attending a mass at the Orthodox Cathedral in Athens.

"As prime minister, I owe it to everyone, and especially to the relatives of the victims, to (ask) forgiveness," he wrote in a message addressed to the Greeks, which he posted on his Facebook account.

"In Greece in 2023, no two trains can travel in opposite directions on the same line without being noticed," he added.

The Greek Prime Minister confirmed taking measures to ensure that the (European) train collision disaster would not be repeated.

Mitsotakis emphasized that "we cannot, do not want, and should not hide behind human error" attributed to the station manager.

He stressed that "justice will be served quickly by identifying those responsible for this tragedy."

According to an official toll issued on Thursday, the death toll from the train collision in northern Greece has reached 57, while hopes fade to find survivors among the wreckage.

And on Wednesday, the Greek authorities said that two trains, one for passengers and one for goods, collided at the town of Tempe, in the province of Larissa, in northern Greece.

According to media reports, the train had 346 passengers on board, and was on its way from the capital, Athens, to Thessaloniki.

Reports indicated that the accident resulted in several vehicles derailing and at least 3 of them catching fire, while the authorities declared a three-day national mourning.