ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A long-awaited report on the investigation into Greece’s deadliest train crash was released Thursday, blaming human error, outdated infrastructure and major systemic failures for the head-on collision that killed 57 people two years ago.
The 178-page report was issued on the eve of a general strike and mass protests planned for the second anniversary of the Feb. 28, 2023 crash, fueled by public anger over the slow pace of a separate judicial inquiry.
The independent investigative committee found that a routing mistake by a station master sent a passenger train onto the same track as an oncoming freight train. The collision, which killed 46 passengers and 11 staff including both train drivers, occurred near Tempe, 375 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens.
Investigators also highlighted poor training, staff shortages and a deteriorating railway system that lacked automated safety controls, noting a chronic lack of public investment during the 2010-18 financial crisis.
The findings were published by the Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority.
Authority director Christos Papadimitriou told The Associated Press that many safety improvements remain unfinished.
“An accident doesn’t occur by chance,” he said. “There are accumulating factors that contribute to the accident, because humans also tend to make mistakes.”
He added: “The Greek railway system didn’t have in 2023 — it doesn’t have today, too — the safety systems needed so that if one or two persons together make a mistake, such was the case in Tempe with the train driver and the station master, there would be mechanisms that won’t allow this accident to happen.”
The government said that it would respond to the “very serious shortcomings and understaffing and underfunding,” but added that claims made by opposition parties that it had hindered the investigation had been shown to be false.
“A cover-up is a very serious allegation and this is not (demonstrated) at any point in these findings,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. The government is deploying 5,000 police to patrol Athens Friday with public demonstrations planned and a general strike expected to halt or disrupt flights, ferries, public services and commercial activity.
Theodora Tongas contributed to this report.
FILE - A crane, firefighters and rescuers operate after a collision, that killed 57 people, in Tempe, about 376 kilometres (235 miles) north of Athens, near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Vaggelis Kousioras, File)
FILE - Crane, firefighters and rescuers operate after a collision, that killed 57 people, in Tempe, about 376 kilometres (235 miles) north of Athens, near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is slipping Thursday after oil prices resumed their climb.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3% and is on track for a fourth drop in five days after setting its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 83 points, or 0.2%, as of 1:01 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% lower.
A halt in the torrid run for stocks benefiting from the artificial-intelligence boom has slowed the U.S. market recently. Not even another better-than-expected profit report from Nvidia was enough to kick it back into gear.
The chip company reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, while also forecasting revenue for the current quarter that cleared analysts’ estimates. “The buildout of AI factories — the largest infrastructure expansion in human history — is accelerating at extraordinary speed,” CEO Jensen Huang said.
But such performances and such talk have become routine, and Nvidia's stock swiveled between losses and gains before falling 1.4%.
Some analysts said the weakness may have simply been because investors were locking in profits after Nvidia’s stock had soared nearly 70% over the prior year, more than double the S&P 500’s 27% jump. The broad AI industry is also getting criticism for becoming too expensive, as well as too circular as Nvidia has bought ownership stakes in companies that use its own chips that drive Nvidia’s revenue.
Pressure built on Wall Street, meanwhile, as the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil climbed 1.7% to $106.81 and trimmed its loss for the week. Oil prices have been swinging up and down with uncertainty about how long the war with Iran will keep the Strait of Hormuz shut, which is preventing oil tankers from exiting the Persian Gulf to deliver crude.
The higher oil prices pushed Treasury yields upward in the bond market, resuming rises following a slowdown the day before.
Climbing yields have cranked up the pressure on financial markets worldwide. They're slowing economies and weighing on prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. Besides driving up rates for mortgages, high yields could also curtail companies’ borrowing to build the AI data centers that have been supporting the U.S. economy’s growth recently.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.61% from 4.57% late Wednesday.
It had gotten near 4.63% in the morning, after a report gave the latest signal that the U.S. job market remains in better shape than economists expected. The number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits last week unexpectedly declined in an indication of fewer layoffs.
But yields eased a bit following a mixed preliminary report showing weaker-than-expected growth for business activity among U.S. services businesses and improved growth for U.S. manufacturers. Companies are feeling the effects of accelerating inflation and are seeing subdued growth in their order books, the preliminary data from an S&P Global survey said.
“The damaging economic impact from the war in the Middle East is becoming increasingly evident in the business surveys,” according to Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Inflation is worsening even beyond the high oil prices caused by the Iran war, while U.S. households are showing widespread discouragement about the economy.
Elsewhere on Wall Street, Walmart fell 7.2% following its profit report. The retailer delivered another quarter of impressive revenue but offered up weaker forecasts for upcoming profit than analysts expected.
On the winning side of Wall Street was Ralph Lauren, which jumped 12.2% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following bigger moves in Asia.
South Korea’s Kospi Kospi soared 8.4% thanks to strength for technology stocks. Samsung Electronics jumped 8.5% after its labor union and management reached an agreement late Wednesday that averted a strike. SK Hynix, a chip company partnering with Nvidia, surged 11.2%.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 3.1%, while indexes fell 1% in Hong Kong and 2% in Shanghai.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
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A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
