In brief
A courtroom in Greece was filled with grieving families of the 57 victims from a devastating train crash, where demands for justice reverberated amid overwhelming emotional turmoil. The trial, expected to last for years, involves 36 defendants, including railway officials and one station master currently facing serious charges. Despite the overcrowded circumstances and restricted access for relatives, the families continue to seek justice for their loved ones lost in the infamous 'Tempi crime' disaster, which has highlighted systemic issues in railway safety and governance.
Relatives of the 57 people who died in Greece's worst ever train disaster crowded into a courtroom on Wednesday, demanding justice for the victims.
The trial had already been postponed once because of the chaotic start last week.
Most of the victims of the crash three years ago were students, killed when their intercity service from Athens to Thessaloniki smashed head-on into a goods train on the same line near Tempi in the centre of the country.
Some of the victims are thought to have burnt to death after surviving the initial collision.
Many relatives were unable to get into the courtroom in the central town of Larisa last week, and the situation was little different when it resumed on Wednesday.
Police officers allowed in only participants who were legally scheduled to attend.
Some relatives complained that two rows of seats had been taken up by police, while others said they still could not witness proceedings clearly enough.
Defence lawyer Zoe Konstantopoulou appealed for the proceedings to be filmed as access for families had been restricted.
The February 2023 disaster is widely known in Greece as the Tempi crime - with many arguing it encapsulates negligence and corruption at the heart of the state.
Thirty-six people are on trial in a case that is expected to hear from 350 witnesses and set to last years.
Among those on trial is a station master who failed - along with everyone else - to spot that the two trains had been travelling towards each other on the same line for 10 minutes.
Other railway officials are also on trial along with two Italian former employees of the trains' parent company, Ferrovie dello Stato.
The Tempi disaster provoked widespread anger and protest across Greece.
The railway network had not made use of EU funding intended to improve safety. The head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, Laura Kovesi, later said the collision could have been avoided if the money had been spent on modernising the signalling system in time.
Trade unions in Greece had warned that some sort of catastrophe on the railway network was waiting to happen.
To the amazement of some, the crash site was bulldozed within days, which experts say destroyed potentially crucial evidence.
This fuelled claims of a cover-up, which authorities have denied.
Despite the public outcry, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was re-elected soon after the disaster and has survived two related no-confidence votes in parliament.
Mitsotakis apologised to the families of the victims in the days after the crash and has asked repeatedly for public patience so that justice can take its course.
To the frustration of many campaigners, no politician is among those on trial.
The case is taking place in a remodelled conference hall that cost hundreds of thousands of euros and Mitsotakis has said it is among the most functional and modern in Europe.
More than 60,000 pages on evidence is to be presented and 200 lawyers are involved in the case, but proceedings descended into chaos on 23 March when the courtroom became overcrowded.
Survivors of the disaster and family members of the deceased were forced to sit in the seats of the accused, most of whom were absent.
Lawyers argued health and safety regulations were being violated.
Maria Karystianou, who lost her 19-year-old daughter Marthi, said relatives had been packed like sardines and the spectacle was an absolute disgrace.
