Train Crash

 2 years ago 57 people died in a horrific train wreck in Central Greece.  Most of them were young students on their way home from a big  Greek family holiday.

Their mothers, like mothers everywhere, told their young ones

'Call me when you arrive'. But the calls never came. 

It was a head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train carrying a flammable cargo . A fireball completely wiped out the first two carriages.

The crash was initially blamed on human error but the investigation revealed an out of date safety system, staff shortages and poor training.  The rail greek rail system is one of the most dangerous in Europe.

Families are accusing the government of a cover-up, mishandling of evidence and demand answers and justice for their children. Last week millions of Greeks protested all over the country and strikes brought the country to a halt.

It was estimated that there were almost half a million in the centre of Athens.

The red rings Parliament buildings. The blue arrow is where my grandson was standing.

All those roads are packed with people, young, old, families, peacefully protesting against the government and it's failure to respond to this real Greek tragedy.

My grandson told me it was a quiet protest, no shoving or shouting.  

However he has a contact in the police force and had been warned. The police would step in at 1pm to break it up with tear gas, stun grenades, baton charges and water cannons.

And that's what happened.  Riot police squads moved in chasing the crowds as they were dispersing.

Water cannons appeared, showering the crowd that remained with water at high pressure although tv cameras showed protesters, young and old, trying to move out of the way with their hands raised to show they had no weapons.

A peaceful demonstration turned into a riot.

                                                  

George and his sisters live 20 minutes from the centre of Athens .  He made it safely back to their apartment but police chasing ..... innocent civilians, reached the square below and started throwing tear gas.

Up in their 3rd floor apartment the gas made their eyes stream.  Meanwhile down below riot police were firing tear gas into the underground station.  To get an idea of the turmoil below just look at the photo.  The tear gas was thrown in one subway entrance, the red arrow, travelled underground obviously right through the metro station and the blue arrow shows where the gas escaped many metres away at the other entrance in the middle of the square. Anyone down there would have been almost asphyxiated.

Huge demonstrations were held all over Greece including Poros. 

There were protests all over the world, London, New York, Sydney. 

The photo above was taken outside the Beehive (Parliament building) way down in Wellington New Zealand.

Tomorrow there will be a No Confidence vote to try and bring down the government. The ruling New Democracy party has a majority so the motion is just symbolic.

Meanwhile protests continued on into the night again and a vigil is being kept in front of Parliament buildings where the names of the 57 victims have been written in red paint.

Today the mothers of the children who died in the crash spoke in Athens main square, expressing their pain and anger. 

Followed by 57 seconds of silence.

They'll stay there till the No Confidence vote tomorrow, and probably beyond.

My Front Line Reporter

That young bearded protester on the right is George, caught by the cameras. 

He's out there everyday. Protesting peacefully.

Adding his presence to the demand for justice for so many young souls who's lives were snuffed out long before they should have been.  Students like him