After rail disaster, trains gradually restart

Train services in Greece resumed yesterday for the first time since a deadly rail disaster three weeks ago, and just a day after the embattled conservative prime minister announced an early election for May.

The Feb. 28 head-on collision, the deadliest in the country’s history, killed 57 people and left dozens injured, with nine still hospitalized.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whose center-right government has been struggling to regain its footing after the crash, said yesterday he would hold the election in May ‒ a month later than initially expected ‒ but didn’t give an exact date.

Greece must hold an election by July when the government’s term expires.

Since the crash, the government’s lead in opinion polls has roughly halved to as little as three points over its main left-wing rival.

“It was a tragedy that should never have happened. It is inconceivable to think that in Greece in 2023 there could be two trains on the same track, traveling in opposite directions, and that no one realized it,” Mitsotakis said in the interview with private Alpha television where he discussed the election date. MDT/AP