The young people who saved fellow passengers are the hope for the future, Kikilias says

Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias, in an interview with ANT1 TV on Friday, said he was truly shocked by the recent train crash in Tempi.

"As a human being, as a father, I sympathise, as does the whole country. But no one can experience the mourning, the pain and the suffering that families, relatives, friends go through," Kikilias said, pointing out that the government's sincere apology to the victims' relatives and to Greek society would be "empty words" if it was not followed by actions, so as to correct the problems in the Greek railways with radical changes.

He made a special reference to the young people who entered carriages after the accident and saved their fellow passengers, stressing that they are "the hope and the virtue on which we must build the next day of the Greek state."

When asked if the accident will affect tourism this year, he replied that the promotion of the issue by international news agencies does not help, while noting that hard work has been done and that the ITB Berlin trade fair currently underway showed a 10% increase in bookings compared with 2022.