ATENS, Greece (AP) – A pump planted near the offices of Hellenic Train, the main railway company in Greece, exploded Friday night in a busy district in the center of Athens, authorities said. There were no reports or injuries.
The explosion occurs in the midst of the generalized public anger in a 2023 rail disaster, the worst of Greece, in which 57 people died and were injured more when a cargo train and a steps train in the opposite directions were accidentally put.
The local media said that a newspaper and a news website had received an anonymous call shortly before Friday’s explosion, with the call that a bomb had planted Bone outside the railway companies and would explode in about 40 minutes.
In a statement, Hellenic Train said the explosion occurred “very close to its central offices” and said the explosion had caused limited damage and no injuries to employees or passersby.
He said that the authorities had acted immediately after receiving information about the warning call, and that the company was cooperating with the authorities and guaranteeing the safety of its staff.
The police cordoned off the site along an important avenue in the Greek capital, keeping residents and tourists away from the building in an area with several bars and restaurants. The officers on the scene said that a bag containing an explosive device had placed the leg near the Helenic train building in Syngrou Avenue.
Police forensic experts who used white overalls were collecting evidence on the scene.
Criticism about the management of the government of the collision of February 28, 2023 in Tempe in northern Greece have been mounted in recent weeks following the second anniversary of the disaster, which mainly killed young people who had returned to university classes after a holiday.
The clash presented severe deficiencies in the Railway System of Greece, including security systems, and has triggered mass protests, led by relatives of the victims, the Previous Government of Anterior. Critics accused the authorities not to assume political responsibility for disaster or hold the senior officials.
Until now, only rail officials have bone accused of any crime. Several protests in recent weeks have become violent, and protesters face the police.
The earliest Friday, a heated debate in the Parliament on the railway accident led legislators to vote to refer a former cabinet minister to the judicial authorities to be investigated for alleged violation of duty on their management of the immediate consequences of the accident.
Hellenic Train said “condemns without preserving all forms of violence and tension that trigger a climate of toxicity that is undermining all progress.”
Greece has a long history of political violence that dates back to the 1970s, with domestic extremist groups that carry out small scales that are causes that are usual but rarely cause injuries.
While the most active groups in the eighties and ninety years have been dismantled, new small groups have emerged. Last year, a man who believes that he had his leg trying to assemble a bomb was killed when the explosive device he was doing exploded in a central Athens apartment. A woman inside the apartment was seriously injured. The explosion had led to the Chrisochoidis minister or citizen protection to warn or a new emerging generation of domestic extremists.
