The Mayor of Athens Haris Doukas visited the site of the future monument for the victims of the Tempi railway disaster, along with the President of the Tempi Victims’ Association and the artists of the memorial, and announced that the artists will make a “Tree of Souls” at the location.
Reports at TO VIMA state that the memorial is slotted for the park across from the Technopolis City of Athens, and that the Mayor of Athens says the “Tree of Souls” is meant to offer hope and peace to the families of the victims.
The monument is designed by artist Maria Mandaki and will be built by Giorgos Sandexis. Mandaki explained that the tree will have nineteen roots, that each root will result in three branches, and that each branch will have a bird at the end of it. The 57 birds, in total, will symbolize the souls that were lost.
The creation of the monument for the victims was approved by Athens’ municipal council at the end of March.
On February 23, 2023 at 11:21pm a head-on collision occurred between two trains in Greece in an area known as Tempi, which resulted in the deaths of at least 57 persons, most of which were students in their 20’s returning to Thessaloniki after a holiday weekend. It was the deadliest railway disaster in the history of Greece.
