Demonstrators clashed with police outside the Greek parliament building in Athens on Wednesday, Greek media reported.
Thousands of people gathered in Syntagma Square demanding an objective investigation into the Tempi railway disaster, which occurred in February 2023 and killed 57 people.
The country’s largest opposition party, PASOK, initiated a vote of no confidence in the government in parliament the day before, on March 5, due to the lack of a proper investigation into the disaster. According to the media, during the discussion in Parliament, the police used tear gas and light and noise grenades on the crowd outside the building.
The riots started because of a group of unknown people in hoods, who set fire to bins and threw them at the police. Students, schoolchildren and trade union representatives took part in the protests. Similar demonstrations took place in many Greek cities. In Thessaloniki, protesters set fire to “Molotov cocktails” and smoke bombs.
On the night of March 1, 2023, an Athens-Saloniki passenger train collided with a freight train in the community of Tempi. As a result, 57 people died and more than 40 were injured. Greek Transport Minister Costas Karamanlis resigned immediately after the accident.
Last March, the country’s parliament rejected a vote of no confidence in the government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
