Larissa
\nThe station master of Greece\u2019s Larissa city, who was charged on Thursday over the country\u2019s worst train crash, assumes some responsibility for the disaster but other factors were also at play, his lawyer said.
\nOn Tuesday evening, a passenger train with more than 350 people on board collided head-on with a freight train near the city of Larissa, some 220 miles north of the capital Athens. The trains were travelling in opposite directions on the same track.
\nThe 59-year old station master was arrested hours later.
\nGreek railway unions have long complained of slipping safety standards which place both passengers and workers at risk.
\nThe detainee, who according to Greek state media reports was assigned his role about a month ago, appeared before a prosecutor on Thursday morning. Felony charges were laid against him for disrupting transport and putting lives at risk, his lawyer Stefanos Pantzartzidis said outside the courthouse.
\n\u201cHe is literally devastated,\u201d Pantzartzidis told reporters. \u201cSince the first moment, he has assumed responsibility proportionate to him \u2026 he is not in a position to say anything else.\u201d
\nPantzartzidis said that his client followed the existing procedure partially and he could have been \u201cpossibly more careful, which he accepts and takes responsibility for, but until there\u201d. He added that \u201cthere has been convergent negligence by many other factors\u201d.
\nPantzartzidis did not specify which factors he believed were at play in the accident or give details about what procedures his client had not followed. Authorities have not made public the name of the accused.
\nThe man, who according to a police official had initially denied wrongdoing, attributing the incident to a technical failure, was expected to respond to the charges on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Larissa The station master of Greece\u2019s Larissa city, who was charged on Thursday over the country\u2019s worst train crash, assumes some responsibility for the disaster but other factors were also at play, his lawyer said. On Tuesday evening, a passenger train with more than 350 people on board collided head-on with a freight train near […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-317286","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n