The primary inquiry by a nationwide authority additionally pointed to the attainable presence of an ‘unknown gas’.
Greece’s worst rail catastrophe in 2023 was attributable to power security gaps that also should be addressed to stop a repeat, investigators have mentioned a day earlier than the tragedy’s second anniversary.
The inquiry by the Nationwide Aviation Investigation Company and Railway Accidents and Transportation Security (HARSIA), the primary by the Greek authorities to conclude, investigated the causes of the crash that killed 57 individuals as a passenger prepare and a freight prepare collided head-on close to Larissa.
The incident on February 28, 2023, led to public outrage and prompted widespread demonstrations, because the households of the victims accused authorities of making an attempt to cowl up proof. The crash led to an enormous fireball and an explosion of unclear origin.
HARSIA mentioned a lot of the victims died within the crash, however as much as seven had been killed by the fireplace.
The report pointed to the “attainable presence” of an “unknown gas” on the scene.
An earlier inquiry by specialists, funded by the victims’ households, had claimed that the freight prepare was carrying an unlawful and unreported load of explosive chemical compounds, which contributed to the excessive dying toll.
The Italian-owned operator Hellenic Prepare has denied information of any unlawful cargo on the freight prepare.
Christos Papadimitriou, HARSIA’s head, described the report as an X-ray of the rail system that may assist to deal with deficiencies.
The company famous that dramatic cuts imposed through the 2009-18 Greek financial disaster had vastly undermined the nation’s rail community, each in employees and different sources. It added that the state-run Hellenic Railways Organisation, or OSE, was “stretching the bounds of their operational employees past what’s humanly acceptable in a sustainable method”.
As well as, the operator Hellenic Prepare “couldn’t show that that they had put in place ongoing coaching, specifically for safety-related communications and related non-technical competencies”.
HARSIA drafted 17 suggestions for the railway regulator, Hellenic Prepare, OSE, and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation.
A judicial investigation is predicted to conclude this 12 months.
The anniversary on Friday will probably be marked by sweeping strikes and a whole lot of protests in Greece and overseas.
