A Greek rail official charged over the country’s worst train disaster, which left 57 dead last month, was released on bail on Monday, his lawyer said.
The man, a stationmaster whose name has not been given by judicial officials, was released after posting bail of 10,000 euros ($10,780) and must report to his local police station twice a month, his lawyer Sotiria Hatzidimitriou told reporters in the city of Larissa.
He faces charges including endangering transport safety and negligent homicide, which carry a potential life sentence.
Investigators are trying to determine whether the suspect went home early, leaving a less experienced stationmaster alone on February 28 after a public holiday, one of the busiest nights of the year in terms of train traffic.
Shortly afterwards, a passenger train and a freight train collided head-on after running on the same track for several kilometres (miles).
Most of the victims were university students returning from a long holiday weekend.
Greece’s transport minister resigned, and the disaster sparked weeks of angry and occasionally violent protests, piling pressure on Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis ahead of elections expected in May.
The main stationmaster on duty during the accident has been placed on pretrial detention on the same charges.
Two other railway officials — a third stationmaster and a supervisor – have also been charged in connection with the disaster and are to testify this week.
Greece’s rail watchdog found serious safety problems across the network, including inadequate basic training for critical staff.
Railway unions had long warned the network was underfunded, understaffed and accident-prone after a decade of spending cuts.
