Larissa stationmaster to testify on Sunday, after court grants him one more day to prepare defence

A stationmaster in the city of Larissa, aged 59, who appeared before a local magistrate on Saturday, was given a one-day extension of deadline until Sunday to prepare his defence testimony, it was reported on Saturday afternoon.

The man’s lawyer, Stefanos Pantzartzidis, told reporters on Saturday that “fresh evidence required a new deadline be set for Sunday.”

The stationmaster was arrested on Wednesday in connection with late Tuesday’s fatal train accident near Tempi, central Greece, which has so far claimed the lives of 57 people and has left scores injured.

The 59-year-old Hellenic Train stationmaster was first led before an examining magistrate on Thursday. Pantzartzidis had then told news media that his client is devastated by the tragedy and that he “assumes his own share of responsibility” for the tragic outcome. “It is important that we do not ‘miss the forest for the trees’,” he had added, “and here, there is a ‘forest’ of responsibilities.”

The man is facing multiple charges including manslaughter through negligence, bodily harm through negligence and dangerous intervention in means of transportation, per article 291 of the Greek penal code.