The Greek Government will pay a monthly pension of 1,600 euros to the families of the 57 people who died in the train accident on February 28 in central Greece, as reported on Friday by the country’s Ministry of Finance.
A statement, the ministry specified that each family will receive a monthly pension of about 1600 euros for each member who dies without an accident (in the case of a country that loses two children), which will be free of taxes and with retroactive effects to 1 of March.
The amount is equivalent to four times the “national non-contributory pension” and will be readjusted annually, based on its value.
“You cannot put a price on human life. The minimum duty of the State is, in these circumstances, to modestly and respectfully help and support the next of kin of the victims,” the statement read.
All accident victims who have a permanent disability greater than 50% as a result of the accident will also be entitled to this pension.
In addition, all debts with the State or with any bank -private or national- that the direct relatives of the victims have will also be eliminated.
On the night of February 28, a passenger train collided head-on with a freight train north of the city of Larissa, killing 57 people and injuring several dozen others, mostly university students. .
The accident, the biggest rail tragedy in Greek history, unleashed a wave of outrage against the conservative government for failing to ensure compliance with necessary safety measures on the railway.
Tens of thousands of people protested against the executive on March 8 throughout Greece, in one of the largest mobilizations in recent years in the country.
The Greek Prime Minister, the conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis, assumed political responsibility for the accident on Thursday and acknowledged the absence of security measures that could have prevented the tragedy.
At the moment, five injured young people remain hospitalized in intensive care units.
Source: TSF
