Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis apologizes for the fatal accident in Tempi through his post on Facebook.

“As prime minister, I owe everyone, but above all the relatives of the victims, a big SORRY. Both personally, and in the name of all those who have ruled the country for years,” says the prime minister.

The prime minister then writes about the causes of the tragedy, stressing that “we cannot, do not want and must not hide behind human error”.

“The fact that the Digital Control System will be fully operational within the next few months is no excuse. The opposite. It makes my pain even greater that we didn’t get to finish it before the bad happened,” writes the prime minister.

The Prime Minister’s entire post

“Today I would like to write about the unspeakable tragedy in Tempe. No wooden words, no repeating trivia. To make an effort to put my thoughts in order and my feelings into words.

And I’ll start with the obvious. As prime minister, I owe everyone, but above all the relatives of the victims, a big SORRY. Both personally, and in the name of all those who ruled the country for years. Because, indeed, in the Greece of 2023, it is not possible for two trains to move in opposite directions on the same line and not be noticed by anyone.

We cannot, will not, and must not hide behind human error. If the Remote Control work had been completed, this accident would have been practically impossible to have happened. The fact that the Digital Control System will be fully operational within the next few months is no excuse. The opposite. It makes my pain even worse that we didn’t get to finish it before the bad happened.

Justice will quickly investigate the tragedy and assign responsibility. While in the next few days the responsible minister will announce interventions to immediately improve the safety of the railways until the Electronic Administration System is completed. Now, we have a duty to stand with the families of the victims, courageously acknowledging the wrongs of the state.

But even these are not enough. I will immediately ask the European Commission and friendly countries for their help in terms of know-how so that we can finally get modern trains. And I will fight for additional community funding to maintain and rapidly upgrade the existing network.

Finally, I will propose to all the parties that we pledge from now on that, in the next Parliament, a Special Committee will be set up to investigate the painful history of the Greek railways throughout the last twenty years. What has not been done for so many years must be done now and quickly.
We all know that the country’s railways are deeply troubled. It is perhaps the extreme expression of a Greece that does not suit us and we want to leave it behind.

I know that many today will remember the phrase of one of my predecessors that “this is Greece”. But no, it’s not just her. There is another Greece, out there, that gives us hope, faith and strength.

We all saw her after the tragic accident. To the firefighters, rescuers and EKAV who were there from the first moment. To the doctors and paramedics who immediately organized the treatment of the injured. In military. But also to the Police experts who quickly completed the painful task of identifying the piles. So they can be returned to their families to mourn.

We also saw the face of the best Greece in the passengers who risked their lives to save their fellow passengers. To the Greek men and women who hurried together to give blood. But also to the young children who demonstrated silently and peacefully, holding a candle and with the slogan “bad times are to blame”. A slogan whose truth hurts us all.

Personally, I am in politics to change this “bad country”, this old Greece that hurts us. That’s why I try, every day. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don’t. I know well, however, how much better we can make our country if we sweep away the remnants of the past that hold us back. And for this Greece that we deserve, I will continue to fight.

I stop here. Today, Sunday of Orthodoxy, we all light a candle in memory of those who left so unjustly and so prematurely.”