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Clashes broke out in Athens during the general strike in Greece called in response to the Tempe train disaster, the Associated Press reported.  

The peaceful demonstrations were disrupted by protesters who threw petrol bombs at a police cordon near parliament.

Riot police responded with tear gas and stun grenades.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or arrests.

The strike resulted in flight cancellations and significant disruption to the service sector, with major protests taking place in other cities across the country. 

Clashes between youths and police also broke out in the southern port city of Patras. 

The strike left ferries traveling to the Greek islands anchored at ports, halted public transport, left public hospitals operating with only emergency staff and led to the cancellation of classes in public schools.

Unions have rallied around rail workers' associations, which have been on strike since the start of the month, following a head-on train collision in northern Greece on February 28 that killed 57 people and injured dozens.

"This government has had four years to fix the problems with the rail network, but instead of taking responsibility, it is blaming everyone else," Poppy Tsapanidou, a spokesman for the main left-wing opposition party SYRIZA, told private Sky television. 

A one-day strike in Greece halts flights and public transport

The main protests took place in Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece, and in Athens.

A variety of labor associations and professions joined the strike, from lawyers to suppliers.

In the capital, thousands of people marched chanting "this crime will not be forgotten".

Shops and banks lowered their shutters as protesters marched past.

They stopped outside a private rail operator next to the police cordon near Parliament.

The government, which faces a parliamentary election before the summer, said rail services would resume on March 22 and be gradually restored by April 11, with extra staff to monitor safety and mandatory rules in place to reduce the speed in some sections of the route.

In recent weeks, the center-right government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has narrowed its lead in opinion polls over its main rival, SYRIZA.

The two countries are in an ideological debate over how to reform Greece's aging rail network.

Mitsotakis promised clearer lines between privatized and the public state services that oversee them, seeking help from European Union experts in drawing up the changes.

His political opponents argue that mismanagement of restructuring and downsizing of state-controlled agencies ultimately jeopardized rail safety.

Larissa

Massive strike demonstration during the national general strike

No cover up

Their profits-Our dead #greecetraincrash #Απεργια16Μαρτη #Απεργια #απεργια_Τεμπη #Greece #Greecetrain #hellenic_train #GreeceTrainAccident pic.twitter.com/f21P4ANUxc

— PAME Greece International (@PAME_Greece) March 16, 2023

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