A jailed employee of the state-run Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) was freed on Thursday after having nearly reached the maximum 18-month pre-trial detention period, following his arrest in the wake of the deadly Tempi collision in February 2023.
The 60-year-old rail company employee served as the on-duty station master at the Larissa station in central Greece on the fateful evening of Feb. 28, 2023, when two trains collided just south of the Tempi rail tunnel in north-central Greece. The crash claimed the lives of 57 people.
Both trains were operated by the private Hellenic Train company, a subsidiary of Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane.
Human error has been initially blamed for the fact that two trains traveling towards each other were on the same track. A much wider inquiry has focused on the lack of safeguards – electronic, mechanical and human supervision – to prevent such calamities.
The man still faces a court trial over a handful of felony and misdemeanor charges related to the Tempi collision. Under the maximum 18-month pre-trial remand period foreseen under Greek law, he was due to be released on Sept. 1. A judicial council granted his request for an early – by one month – conditional release.
Instead, he will be under house arrest.
