TENS of thousands of Greeks took to the streets in 110 cities on Sunday, as well as locations abroad, to demand justice for the 57 victims of the country’s deadliest rail disaster, in 2023.

The largest marches, with about 30,000 taking part in each, took place in Greece’s two largest cities, Athens and Thessaloniki. 

Protests were also held in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Cologne, Helsinki, London, Nicosia, Reykjavik and Valetta, Malta.

The protests were largely peaceful although there were minor clashes in a number of cities in Greece with the police aiming tear gas and flash-bang grenades at some protesters.

Many protesters held placards and chanted “I have no oxygen,” a phrase reportedly uttered by a victim, still alive, who called the 112 European emergency number to report the incident. 

Another placard, seen in Thessaloniki, accused the state, the country’s right-wing government and the European Commission of having blood on their hands.

The father of one of the victims, Pavlos Aslanidis, told reporters in Thessaloniki that the number of demonstrations taking place was “majestic,” and that this was “now a global fight,” for justice.

The marchers accused the government of hiding significant evidence, running a non-transparent investigation and trying to blame the disaster on poor decisions by a station master.

The disaster happened on the night of February 28 2023 when a north-bound passenger train collided with a south-bound freight train, which had been placed mistakenly on the same track.

Many believe that at least 30 of the 57 victims survived the initial impact only to die in a fire started not by the high-speed crash but, allegedly, by dangerous chemicals transported by the freight train. 

Some, like Maria Karystianou, whose daughter died in the crash, have accused the government of trying to hide that chemicals were on board.

She told a rally in Athens that “this has been a mafia-like cover-up operation.”