ATHENS and THESSALONIKI, Greece — Evdokia Tsagli remembers laughing moments before her train wagon spun through the air. The ordeal lasted seven seconds. For Tsagli, "It was like eternity."
"I think I said over 100 times to myself, 'When is it gonna stop?'" she recalls.
On Feb. 28, 2023, her carriage in a Greek passenger train landed on top of the dining car ahead, flames consuming the wreckage. The train, carrying hundreds — many of them university students — collided head-on with a freight train in Tempi Valley.
It was Greece's deadliest railway disaster. Fifty-seven people died. Now, new evidence suggests that many may not have been killed by the crash itself, but by a fire that followed.
Greek officials quickly blamed the crash on human error, attributing the fire to silicone-based cooling oil. But two years later, victims' families and independent investigators say that explanation doesn't hold.
"We're talking about a series of crimes," says Tsagli, who managed to escape the train by climbing through a broken window and climbing down to safety. She and other survivors, along with experts hired by victims' families, blame government negligence and accuse authorities of a cover-up, something the government denies. Massive protests are expected to bring parts of the country to a halt on Friday, the second anniversary of the tragedy.
"I have very little oxygen"
A newly analyzed call made to the national Greek emergency number on the night of the crash has been fueling fresh protests against the Greek government and the private and public railway companies involved in the crash. In the recording, a passenger can be heard saying: "I have very little oxygen."
Forensic investigator Vasilis Kokotsakis, hired by victims' families, says the audio — along with analysis of video footage showing the exact moment of the collision from outside the trains — suggests an estimated 30 passengers initially survived the crash, but then were burned alive.
Based on their analysis of photographic evidence and chemical traces suggesting the presence of industrial solvents in the soil at the crash site, his team believes undeclared, highly flammable chemical cargo — likely carried by the freight train, though there is no way to know for sure — ignited on impact, creating a fireball that engulfed multiple passenger cars.
The fire reached temperatures of up to 1,300 degrees Celsius, Kokotsakis says, enough to burn victims beyond recognition. Experts in fire matters and chemistry say this destruction cannot be explained by the claim that transformer oil caused the fire.
Allegations of a cover-up
Families and experts accuse the government of suppressing key evidence, claiming no forensic team documented the crash site before debris removal.
"Nothing was done correctly from the beginning," Kokotsakis says.
According to Kokotsakis, at least 750 cubic meters of soil were excavated from the crash site and dumped miles away, while the wreckage was moved to another site.
The government has argued that the swift removal of debris and soil was necessary to stabilize the area, prevent new hazards and resume railway operations.
Highly sought surveillance footage of the cargo train vanished, then resurfaced two years later. According to an image analysis expert on Kokotsakis' team, it was seemingly tampered with. Audio recordings of the conductor's exchange with the control room appear edited, also according to Kokotsakis' team, to shift blame from higher-level officials and systemic failures to the local station master.
"Either we're talking about extraordinary incompetence or a concerted effort to hide something," says Nikos Passas, a criminology professor at Northeastern University who is studying the crash as a specialist on corruption in Greece and is not involved with the investigation instigated by the victims' families.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has also faced accusations by critics, including opposition leaders and victims' families, of interfering in the judicial investigation into the crash, fueling public distrust.
The Greek government has consistently denied any cover-up or mishandling of the investigation. It did not respond to NPR's questions for comment on the allegations of negligence and a cover-up.
The leaked emergency call, independent forensic findings and perceived missteps by the government have fueled public skepticism. A recent poll found 72% of Greeks believe there was a cover-up.
A pattern of negligence and impunity?
Passas says the Tempi crash was part of a broader pattern of corruption in Greece. Despite European Union funding meant to modernize railways, critical safety systems were never fully implemented. Remote control and signaling technology could have prevented the crash, but necessary upgrades never materialized, according to railway experts, unions and opposition officials.
Rail workers had issued repeated warnings about safety risks but claimed concerns were ignored. Following the tragedy, then-Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis tendered his resignation, acknowledging the persistent issues affecting the railway system. He highlighted the inherited challenges from previous administrations, noting that his government had received a railway system in a condition "incompatible with 21st century standards."
The European Public Prosecutor's Office — tasked, according to its website, with "investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests" of the European Union — attempted to investigate former transport ministers' roles in the disaster, but the Greek ruling party blocked it.
Investigators with the Greek independent authority responsible for probing serious transportation accidents on Thursday issued a long-awaited report, which concluded the crash resulted in part from longstanding railway deficiencies and systemic infrastructural issues, some of which remain unresolved and must be addressed in order to prevent another tragedy.
The report by the National Organization for the Investigation of Aviation and Railway Accidents and Transport Safety also acknowledged the occurrence of fire-related deaths, but set the number at up to seven individuals — far lower than the estimate by Kokotsakis' team. It also points out shortcomings in the crash site investigation, noting that essential forensic analysis and mapping were not conducted.
"This fight has become my life's purpose"
Distrust in official investigations has driven families to seek answers on their own. Independent experts, including Kokotsakis, have spent months reconstructing the events. In the month since the audio was made public, the phrase "I have very little oxygen" has become a rallying cry in demonstrations demanding accountability.
Under growing pressure and renewed protests, Prime Minister Mitsotakis recently walked back his earlier claims that the freight train involved in the crash was not carrying any hazardous or illegal material. In a lengthy interview in late January with Greek media, he said "all possibilities remain open."
For victims' families, that admission is too little, too late. Some are now pushing for European courts to take up the case, claiming they distrust the Greek justice system to ensure accountability.
Christos Konstantinidis, who lost his wife in the crash, has spent two years demanding justice. "I have reached the point where I am neglecting my family, where I have abandoned my job," he says. "This fight has become my life's purpose."
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