A total of 57 intact bodies’ DNA had been collected, according to Eleni Zaggelidou, one of the ten coroners working on the case.
A government minister claimed that the lack of railroad investment was a result of the austerity measures taken during Greece’s economic crisis in the 2000s.
Following the catastrophe, rail employees went on a one-day strike on Thursday, accusing government negligence.
Shocked by the catastrophe near the city of Larissa, more than 2,000 protesters rallied for a second day in Athens and Thessaloniki.
Pensioner Stavros Nantis in Athens remarked, “We are unhappy with the firm, the administration, and former governments who did little to improve circumstances in the Greek railway.
Rescue personnel are still searching charred and buckled carriages for casualties.
This was the “most painful moment”, rescuer Konstantinos Imanimidis told Reuters news agency, because “instead of saving lives, we have to recover bodies”.
Just before midnight on Tuesday, a 350-person passenger train crashed with a freight train that had accidentally ended up on the same track, igniting the front coaches.
Athens’ metro and national train services were both affected by the railway workers’ strike, which started at 6:00 local time (04:00 GMT).
The union cited previous governments’ “disrespect” for Greek railways as the cause of this “tragic consequence,” which many people in Greece believe was a catastrophe waiting to happen.
The BBC was informed by Zoe Rapti, Greece’s deputy minister of health, during a visit to a hospital where relatives of the missing had gathered that the country’s debt crisis, which began around 2010, had made it more challenging to invest in the rail system in return for a financial rescue from the EU and the IMF.
Of course, things need to have been done during this time, but as you may recall, Greece was in a severe economic crisis for more than ten years, so a lot of things were put off, she remarked.
She promised answers after a “broad probe” that she indicated will be conducted.
Giannis Oikonomous, a spokesman for the government, added that the “chronic delays” in the implementation of rail projects were due to “distortions” in the public sector of the nation that had existed for many years.
What is known about the Greek train crash so far?
Witnesses recount the “nightmarish seconds” of the train crashes.
On Thursday, a 59-year-old station master from Larissa is scheduled to appear in court on charges of manslaughter by negligence. According to his attorney Stefanos Pantzartzidis speaking outside the courthouse, he has acknowledged accepting some of the blame for the disaster.
“His devastation is palpable. He has taken on responsibility that is appropriate for him since the beginning “Mr. Pantzartzidis hinted that there may be more parties responsible than the station master, who has not been identified publicly.
In response to the accident, Kostas Karamanlis, the transport minister, resigned and said he would be held accountable for the government’s “longstanding failures” to update an antiquated railway infrastructure.
But the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ assertion that the problem was “tragic human error” infuriated people.
images showing the destruction while many were slain
The business in charge of maintaining Greece’s trains, Hellenic Train, was attacked by protesters and police outside its Athens offices on Wednesday night.
Protesters who flung stones and started fires in the streets were dispersed with tear gas.
One protester claimed he thought the tragedy had been long coming at a silent memorial held in Larissa to remember the victims of the incident.
According to Nikos Savva, a medical student from Cyprus, “the rail network appeared terrible, with worn-out, poorly paid workers.” Nikos Savva made the statement to AFP news agency.
The station master who was detained shouldn’t be held accountable “for a complete failing system,” he said.
Several people traveling on board were young adults in their 20s who were returning to Thessaloniki from a lengthy weekend spent commemorating Greek Orthodox Lent.
In the first carriage, which caught fire, temperatures reached 1,300C (2,370F), making it “impossible to identify the passengers who were inside,” according to Vassilis Varthakogiannis, a spokeswoman for the fire brigade.
As Greece honors three days of national mourning, local media have reported that more than ten persons are still missing.
To aid in identifying attempts, families have donated DNA samples. Results are anticipated on Thursday.
One of them, Katerina, yelled “Murderers!” outside the hospital in Larissa, directing her rage at the government and the rail corporation as she looked for her missing brother who was a train passenger, according to Reuters.
Kostas Malizos, a recently retired surgeon and Emeritus Professor at the University of Thessaly in Greece, has come back to work to treat injured passengers with surgery.
It’s catastrophic, he declared, and a calamity. “Tonight, families are crying. Regrettably, young students make up the bulk of the missing people. Happy with the long weekend, they left the house to go to school or visit their relatives, but they never returned.”
