Greek railway workers go on strike after deadly train accident

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - Greek railway workers on Thursday went on strike after Tuesday’s deadly train accident in northern Greece that left at least 42 people dead, local media reported.

The 24-hour strike was called by Greece’s Federation of Railway Employees (POS), which argued that negligence from governments led to the tragic accident, according to daily Avgi.

“Unfortunately, our constant requests for the recruitment of permanent staff, better training, and above all, the application of modern security technologies, are permanently thrown into the wastebasket,” the union said in a statement.

In a related development on Wednesday evening, a group of approximately 1,000 people clashed with riot police outside the headquarters of the Hellenic Train Company in Athens.

They were protesting the tragic train accident in Tempi.

The death toll in the train crash has climbed to 42, with at least 15 people still missing. At least 72 injured passengers were hospitalized and 57 of them are still under treatment in various hospitals in nearby cities.