Bomb explodes outside Greek railway company offices in Athens

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

By contributor Associated Press Reporters
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Greece Explosion
Police close the road after a suspected bomb explosion outside of the Hellenic Train offices (Petros Giannakouris/AP)

A bomb has exploded outside the offices of Hellenic Train, Greece’s main railway company, in central Athens.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Local media said a newspaper and a news website had received an anonymous call shortly before the blast, with the caller warning that a bomb had been planted outside the railway company offices and would explode within about 40 minutes.

Police cordoned off the site along a major avenue in the Greek capital, keeping residents and tourists away from the building in an area with several bars and restaurants.

Officers at the scene said a bag containing an explosive device had been placed near the Hellenic Train building on Syngrou Avenue.

The explosion comes amid widespread public anger over a major railway disaster in 2023, in which dozens of people were killed when a freight train and a passenger train heading in opposite directions were accidentally put on the same track.

Criticism over the government’s handling of the February 28, 2023 collision at Tempe in northern Greece has mounted over the last few weeks in the wake of the second anniversary of the disaster, which killed mostly young people who had been returning to university classes after a public holiday.

The crash exposed severe deficiencies in Greece’s railway system, including in safety systems, and has triggered mass protests – led by relatives of the victims – against the country’s conservative government.

Critics accused authorities of failing to take political responsibility for the disaster or holding senior officials accountable.

Greece Explosion
Local media received an anonymous call shortly before the blast with a warning that a bomb had been planted, giving police time to cordon off the site (Derek Gatopoulos/AP)

So far, only rail officials have been charged with any crimes. Several protests in recent weeks have turned violent, with demonstrators clashing with police.

Earlier on Friday, a heated debate in Parliament on the rail crash led to officials voting to refer a former Cabinet minister to judicial authorities to be investigated over alleged violation of duty over his handling of the immediate aftermath of the accident.

Hellenic Train said it “unreservedly condemns every form of violence and tension which are triggering a climate of toxicity that is undermining all progress”.

Greece has a long history of politically motivated violence, with domestic extremist groups carrying out small-scale bombings which usually cause damage but rarely lead to injuries.