A report by a national organization tasked with investigating air and rail accidents will be presented, as scheduled, on Thursday morning, a day before numerous protest rallies will be held around Greece on the second anniversary of the Tempi two-train collision.
The report, which will be presented in the offices of the Athens Journalists’ Union (ESIEA), will then be forwarded to a relevant appellate level magistrate in order to be included in the Tempi investigation’s case file.
An attorney representing several families of victims of the crash had requested that the report be released after Friday’s protest rallies.
According to media outlets on Wednesday, another two reports on the deadly rail disaster are pending, namely, one by the Athens Polytechnic in relation to silicone lubricants and whether they ignited and burned until depletion in the wake of the collision, and another by Greek Police’s (EL.AS) crime lab division, regarding the authenticity of three recently submitted videos. The latter purportedly show the course of the ill-fated, south-bound freight train through rail tunnels.
No word has been given on when the latter two reports will be released.
Another report by a noted Belgian rail accident expert was released last week. The latter was commissioned by FS-owned Hellenic Train, which operated both the passenger and freight trains that collided on the evening of Feb. 28, 2023.
That reports attributed a fireball seen in a few seconds of grainy video and subsequent fires that erupted on the passenger train to electrical arcs and short circuits that ignited a transformer and materials in the first rail wagon behind the electricity-driven locomotive.
Kaklamanis
Meanwhile, in a related development, Parliament President Nikitas Kaklamanis on Wednesday told reporters that Maria Karystianou, the president of a group representing families of Tempi victims, was welcome at his office on Saturday or Sunday.
An attorney representing Karystianou had reportedly requested a meeting with Kaklamanis on Thursday morning, a day before the protest rallies.
The veteran lawmaker said he instructed his office’s legal adviser to contact the other attorney and relay his acquiescence for a meeting on a “personal level”, and that Karystianou is welcome at his Parliament office.
At the same time, he added: “Parliament does not come into conflict with any citizen and, therefore, the presence of a lawyer is not necessary at the meeting.”
