Greece paralysed by general strike over deadly train accident

Athens, March 17

Greece's public services, including transport, were paralysed by a 24-hour nationwide general strike called by labour unions over the deadly train accident last month.

A series of marches in the centre of Athens on Thursday staged by the umbrella civil servants' union ADEDY, the private sector union GSEE, and other unions and opposition parties, ended in scuffles between protesters and police, Xinhua news agency reported citing local media.

According to police estimates, around 25,000 people gathered in the streets of the capital, demanding accountability for the worst trail accident in Greece on February 28, which claimed 57 lives.

They also called for justice for the victims and safe railways for all.

Thursday's mobilisation followed a series of walkouts and protests over the tragedy in the past two weeks.

"We are here, and we demand that everything comes to light. We will not stop until we are heard," Konstantinos Vlachakis, secretary of the Central Youth Council of the main opposition SYRIZA party, told Xinhua.

Four station masters and a supervisor have been charged so far with manslaughter through negligence for the head-on collision of a passenger train with a freight train in central Greece.

The government has apologised for chronic shortcomings in the safety of the railway network operation, pledging a gradual upgrade.

Passenger and freight services that were stopped on March 1 are expected to restart gradually under strict safety protocols on March 22, officials said.