Mitsotakis on the Tempi train tragedy: The truth is coming soon and the guilty will be punished

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday promised that those responsible for the Tempi train tragedy, a head-on collision between two trains south of the Tempi Valley on 28 February 2023, which killed 57 people, would be punished.

“One year after the tragedy of Tempi, the wounds from the loss of the victims remain fresh, with their families still facing their own difficult and uphill Calvary. It is true that time froze, at that moment, when the country collided with its worst self. It went off the rails, buckling under the weight of a hidden reality,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday in his statement about the anniversary of the Tempi train crash.

“On a day like this, sadness cannot be painted with political party colors. And respect for suffering requires maturity and prudence. In overcoming this national trauma, time will not be an ally. It may, however, offer some relief when all the causes of the evil are brought to light. When all doubts are dispelled. When even the most absurd rumours are disproved. And, above all, when the guilty are punished. And that will happen,” the prime minister stressed.

“Parliament examined dozens of witnesses with hundreds of pieces of evidence, investigating how human error met fatally with the age-long shortcomings of the state. But it also does not cease to be a political institution. That is why only Justice is the one that will shed light on the case, as we all want. It is already moving quickly and to the highest degree, calling the first of those to account. I have complete confidence in Justice and I am sure it will rise to the occasion,” he stated.

“We welcome, therefore, the sad anniversary, bowing our heads in memory of the 57 innocents lost and the ordeal of the wounded. Thinking of the families, who have every right to make their pain a protest. However, first the government and the political system we must discern behind the tragedy a collective failure. To find the illnesses and heal them, not divided, but united.

“Our mission is to turn pain into action. So that the organisations that serve the citizen operate safely, consistently and professionally. The State should not remain a prisoner of bureaucracy, which delays critical projects. And the courts must decide in a timely manner, especially for cases that concern society.

“As prime minister, as a citizen, but also as a father, I participate in the mourning of the homeland. And I repeat the commitment that the country will continue on the path of constant vigilance and progress. Changing the state and improving everyday life. Without compromises,” the prime minister concluded in his statement.

“A year seems like a long time. A lot happens in a year. For our society, however, the clock stopped on the fateful night of February 28, 2023,” opposition PASOK-Movement of Change leader Nikos Androulakis said on Wednesday, in a post on social media post commemorating the 57 victims of the Tempi train collision.

Androulakis stressed that “the causes of the accident, the unacceptable management of the area and the investigation, everything that followed, confirm that time has stopped in Greece. The ‘why’ and ‘how’ of this tragedy remain unanswered. The guilty and those responsible, for some, remain invisible.”

As the leader of PASOK-KINAL noted, “the reflexes of a State that normally investigates, detects, punishes and finally corrects, remain disappointing. A year is a long time to have done none of the things we are obliged to do as a State.”

President Sakellaropoulou on first-year anniversary of Tempi tragedy

On the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the fatal train collision in Tempi, President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Wednesday said that “the pain remains undiminished and the questions remain unanswered.”

She noted that it was “the state’s duty to attribute responsibility and to ensure that our country will never again experience such a blow to the citizens’ safety and trust.”

In her statement, Sakellaropoulou said: “One year later, the tragedy of Tempi hurts and angers society. The pain is undiminished and the questions remain unanswered. Our thoughts today are with the families of the victims, the injured, with the passengers who experienced the horror of that night.”

“Words can’t heal the wounds. It is the State’s duty to attribute responsibility and and to ensure that our country will never again experience such a blow to the citizens’ safety and trust,” the president concluded.

Kasselakis on Tempi train crash: We will support the victims’ families in their struggle for justice

Main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Stefanos Kasselakis on Wednesday posted a message on social media marking the one-year anniversary since the fatal train crash in Tempi.

“Tempi, one year after. A promise to the memory of the 57 people that lost their lives. They must not and will not be forgotten. We will stand with the members of their families in their struggle for justice,” Kasselakis wrote.

Marinakis reiterates state support for the relatives of the Tempi accident victims

In reply to a question about the Tempi accident, government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis during the daily press briefing on Tuesday stated: “The government did not act, nor legislate with the aim of covering up the tragic train accident in Tempi. The tragic accident shocked Greek society, all of us, and it is a day when the lives of some people, namely the relatives of the victims, changed for good.”

“No one can understand how these people feel unless they have experienced something similar. The State’s support for these people is a given. Plenty of light must be shed and there must be the fastest and fairest possible trial, but responsibilities must be assigned where they belong. We must let justice do its job and the government has the obligation to proceed immediately with all it has promised,” he added.

Mitsotakis on the Tempi train tragedy: The truth is coming soon and the guilty will be punished https://t.co/Uoh7Oe2BnE pic.twitter.com/HUpYFb3R04

— Greek City Times (@greekcitytimes) February 28, 2024