On Sunday, thousands of people gathered in front of the Greek parliament on Syntagma Square to protest against the government and rail company they hold responsible for the recent deadly train crash.
Protesters have already clashed with police in the previous days, while strikes were organized by train workers' unions. They said they had already warned the railway company, Hellenic Train, about safety issues on the line.
There were early reports of violence at Sunday's protest, called by university students, public sector employees, and railway workers, as police clashed with groups of protesters.
Police said about 12,000 people attended, many of whom released black balloons into the sky in memory of those killed. Others carried banners reading "Down with murderous governments."
Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis turned to Facebook on Sunday to offer an apology to the families of the 57 victims in Tuesday's train crash, which has become the worst rail disaster in Greek history.
"As prime minister, I owe a big apology to everyone, but above all to the victims' relatives," Mitsotakis wrote on Facebook.
"Both personally, but also in the name of all those who have governed the country for years."
"Because, indeed, it cannot be that in Greece in 2023, two trains can run on the same line in different directions and nobody notice," the prime minister added.
In an apparent agreement with protesters, Mitsotakis added that: "We cannot, we don't want to and we mustn't hide behind human error."
The AFP news agency reported that investigators are looking into the possibility of filing criminal charges against the Greek train.
For its part, the company released a statement on Saturday defending its response. "These are particularly difficult days for the country and for our company," it said.
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