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Accident site near Larisa
Photo: SAKIS MITROLIDIS / AFP
After the serious train accident in Greece, the arrested station master took responsibility for the accident.
Government spokesman Giannis Economou told journalists that the man had "acknowledged the responsibility, the negligence, the error".
The station master's lawyer also said that the 59-year-old had "admitted what he did".
On the route between the capital Athens and the port city of Thessaloniki, an Intercity with more than 350 people on board and an oncoming freight train on the same track collided just before midnight on Tuesday evening.
Two carriages were crushed by the force of the collision, the dining car burst into flames, numerous people were trapped in the derailed and wedged wrecks.
According to the authorities, the number of dead is likely to rise to more than 50.
The station master, who was on duty in the city of Larisa at the time of the accident, was arrested on Wednesday after questioning.
He is charged with negligent homicide and negligent bodily harm.
If convicted, he faces life imprisonment.
Government spokesman Economou also acknowledged government failure.
Delays in the modernization of the Greek railway network are due to "chronic" problems and "decades of failure" in administration.
Many people in Greece perceive the stationmaster as a pawn sacrifice.
Both in Athens and in Thessaloniki there were strikes by the railway workers on Thursday and protests, some of them violent, in front of the offices of the railway operator, Hellenic Trains.
However, this is not responsible at all - the infrastructure of the network is in the hands of the state company OSE.
Their boss resigned, just like the Greek Minister of Transport.
Observers expect that there will be more resignations.
aeh/AFP/Reuters/dpa