They came to scold their anger once again. More than 40,000 Greeks took to the streets on Thursday (March 16th) as the country is largely paralyzed by a general strike.

This is the second large-scale protest in Athens and other cities across the country since the head-on collision between two trains on the evening of 28 February, which claimed the lives of 57 people. After a large rally of 40,000 people in Athens on March 8, more than 30,000 people, according to police, found themselves in several demonstrations organized in the center of the capital.

"Assassins!"

Next to the parliament, a group of protesters threw Molotov cocktails. Police responded by spraying them with tear gas and throwing stun grenades, according to AFP journalists. Dumpsters were set on fire near the university and shop windows were smashed.

Some of the demonstrators gathered in front of the headquarters of Hellenic Train, the railway company, as they had already done three days after the accident between a passenger train linking Athens to Thessaloniki (north) and a freight convoy.

"Either their profits or our lives," one protester wrote on the façade of the building guarded by a police cordon. "Murderers!" shouted schoolchildren as a large banner proclaimed: "Profits kill. With our massive struggles, we will overthrow them."

The country on general strike

In Thessaloniki, the country's second largest city, incidents also took place on the sidelines of a parade exceeding 8,000 participants, according to AFP.

"Things have to change in this country," said Stravoula Ghatzieleftheriou, a private sector worker in Athens, as general elections are scheduled for July.

After several smaller demonstrations in the days following the rail accident, some 65,000 people protested on March 8. Some called on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in power since 2019, to step down.

Public transport in Athens was severely disrupted on Thursday. All boats connecting the mainland to the islands remained docked for 24 hours and most planes remained on the tarmac. At a standstill since the accident, rail traffic is not expected to resume gradually until March 22.

Many schools are also closed while students, on the front line in this wave of protest unprecedented since the years of the financial crisis, were also numerous in the processions.

Sick

Beyond this rail disaster that has shaken the country, Greeks are crying out their fed up with the deterioration of public services in a country bled dry by the years of crisis and the austerity plans imposed by its creditors.

Because if the rail accident in Tempé, in the center of the country, was attributed to an error of the station master, it was also caused by the obsolescence of the railway network and the heavy delays in modernization, including signaling, according to the first elements of the investigation.

Undermined after the disaster, the Prime Minister tried to respond to the indignation of a population that has largely lost confidence in institutions since the financial crisis of 2009-2018. He promised "full transparency" in the ongoing investigation and repeatedly asked for forgiveness from the families of the victims.

With AFP

The summary of the week France 24 invites you to look back on the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news with you everywhere! Download the France 24 app