"Today puts an end to the most obscene effort to manipulate public opinion that I can remember...the narrative built by the opposition, en masse, upon a tragic accident," government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis commented on Tuesday, following the publication of the National Technical University of Athens report concerning the source of the fireball that erupted during the 2023 train crash at Tempi.
Asked about the report released by Professor Dimitris Karonis earlier the same day, Marinakis said this answered questions concerning the flammable material and effectively refuted opposition speculation that the train was carrying illegal flammable cargo. Thus, the "narrative of a cover-up comes crashing down because there if there was no cargo, if there was nothing illegal, what is it that anyone would wish to cover up," the spokesperson added.
Marinakis noted that the existence of some unknown fuel had been put forward as a possibility but not as a fact in the report by the Hellenic Aviation and Railway Safety Investigation Agency (HARSIA), while it was later proved that this possibility was already under dispute by universities. Main opposition PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis had made haste to adopt this view, instead of waiting for the official expert report commissioned by justice, he pointed out.
"PASOK co-signed the censure motion with all the parties of irrationality, did not wait for the official facts and made accusations of bulldozing and the rest, and thus owes an explanation to the citizens. I say again that Tempi is a national tragedy, that all the causes that led to this tragedy must be investigated in depth, but the narrative of a cover-up and an illegal cargo has been resoundingly proved false and those that promoted it must first of all answer to society," he added.