The prosecutor overseeing the trial into Greece's deadliest rail disaster has recommended that investigators be allowed to examine the seized mobile phone of the night-shift stationmaster charged in the 2023 Tempi crash, as grieving relatives of victims gave emotional testimony in court.
The prosecutor said the request from victims' lawyers was lawful and reasonable for clarifying the circumstances of the crash, citing provisions in Greece's criminal procedure code that allow lifting privacy protections in felony cases.
She proposed a full forensic examination of the device, including calls, texts, messaging apps like Viber, and recovery of any deleted files.
The recommendation came after testimony from relatives of the victims, including the parents of Vaios Vlachos, 34, one of the Hellenic Train employees killed in the collision.
His mother, Maria Theodori, described the chaotic scene at Larissa General Hospital, saying she witnessed a state that failed to show up while volunteers carried the burden.
His father, Christos Vlachos, testified he personally traced soil moved from the crash site to a private plot, calling the disaster a "state killing."
The parents of three more victims — Anastasia-Maria Plakia and twin sisters Chrysi and Thomai Plakia — also testified, describing their own investigations into human remains recovered near Larissa and disputes over the site's handling.
Sofia Zaropoulou, the twins' mother, urged the court to "cut to the bone" in its findings, saying the graves remain, in her words, still waiting for justice.
The trial, which opened in March with 36 defendants, is examining the chain of failures behind the March 2023 collision that killed 57 people