Violent protests in Greece following tragic accident, railway workers warn strike

Protesters clashed with police outside Hellenic Train headquarters in Athens, the company responsible for maintaining Greece's railways.

Protests were also held in Thessaloniki and the town of Larissa, near the site of the disaster Tuesday evening.

The government has said an independent investigation will provide justice.

Three days of national mourning have been declared throughout the country after the incident, in which a passenger service crashed face - to - face on a freight train, causing the front wagons to explode into flames.

The front wagons of the passenger train were destroyed mainly.

Many of the 350 passengers aboard were students in their late 20s returning to Thessaloniki after a long weekend celebrating the Greek Orthodox Cresm.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that “the tragic human error” was guilty of disaster.

Railway union members believe that security systems were not functioning properly, with repeated warnings about it over many years.

In protest and mourning, railway workers are planning to strike Thursday for what they say is official neglect of railways.

The pain has turned into anger for dozens of colleagues and fellow citizens dead and injured”, said a statement by the labour union to declare the strike.

“Disrespect shown over the years by governments to Greek railways led to the tragic outcome,”, reported in comments quoted by Reuters news agency.

Transport Minister Costas Karamanlis resigned for the disaster, saying he would assume responsibility for the authorities' “long failures to regulate a railway system he said was not appropriate for the 21st century.