ATHENS: The father of a victim of Greece’s worst rail disaster has ended a 23-day hunger strike after persuading judicial authorities to examine the precise cause of his son’s death.
“The hunger strike ends today,“ Panos Ruci, 48, told TV crews on Tuesday in front of parliament, where he had pitched a tent since September 15.
Ruci’s son Denis was among 57 people, mostly students, who died on the night of February 28, 2023, when a passenger train and a freight train collided near the central city of Larissa.
Some families, backed by experts, suspect that their loved ones were killed by an explosion attributed to undeclared chemicals on board the freight train.
But though several families appealed to hold further tests on the victims’ remains, judicial authorities refused because the official investigation found no signs of illegal cargo on board.
Ruci also wanted DNA tests to be held, as he said he was not even certain that the charred remains delivered to him after the accident actually belong to his son.
His protest was embraced by opposition parties, many citizens and even the head of the Church of Greece, who visited him on Monday to declare support.
Opinion polls have shown a large majority of Greeks believe the government tried to cover up evidence into the cause of the crash.
The victims’ families believe valuable evidence was lost when the crash site was bulldozed soon after the accident.
The investigation ended at the end of August.
A senior judge in Larissa last week ordered 36 people to face trial, including Greek railway officials, executives of Italian-owned operating company Hellenic Train, and the stationmaster on duty of the night of the accident. – AFP