“I am here in memory of the people who were killed in the train crash. We demand justice,” said 13-year-old Dimitris who had come with his father Petros Polyzos to the largest rally in Greece, in Syntagma Square in downtown Athens.

It was during the night of 28 February 2023 that a passenger train packed with students collided head-on with a goods train near the Tempi gorge in central Greece.

An inquiry concluded on Thursday that the accident was caused by human error, poor maintenance, and inadequate staffing.

The report by Greece’s Air and Rail Accident Investigation Authority warned that the safety failings exposed by the crash had not yet been addressed. “Those children were killed because the train was not safe,” said the authority’s chief Christos Papadimitriou.

The Tempi disaster shocked Greeks with many accusing their conservative government of doing too little to shed light on the causes of the tragedy. There is a widely held belief that the government has sought to cover up the role of high-ranking officials.

The entire centre of Athens was crowded with people of all ages and all walks of life, with many saying they were attending a demonstration for the first time in their lives.

By early afternoon, tempers flared and clashes broke out with police. Petrol bombs were thrown and police used tear gas.

Dmitris and his father were among many protesters in Athens, wearing t-shirts that read “I have no oxygen – justice to the end”, referring to the 57 who died.

Rallies were being organised in 346 cities, across Greece in Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Patras and Larissa, as well as in cities across Europe, including Brussels, Rome and several cities in the UK.

The passenger service from Athens to Thessaloniki was crowded with students returning to university after a holiday for Greek Orthodox Lent when the train collided with a goods train on the same track outside Larisa.

Seconds afterwards a fireball almost completely destroyed the first two carriages of the train.

In Athens, protesters held placards reading “My child, call me when you arrive” and “No cover-up”.

Dina Gazi, 62, held white balloons with the names of those who died in the accident. “I firmly believe that the government is covering up those responsible for the accident”, she told BBC. “We demand that all the evidence come to light.”

Shops in the centre had their shutters down, many with messages of sympathy and support in their windows, and ordinary people did not go to work.

Schools were closed, flights and trains cancelled, and the only public transport still operating was taking people to and from Syntagma Square.

Taxi drivers promised to take people to the protest without charge.

In a post on Facebook, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that everyone’s thoughts were with the families of the 57 victims who died, as well as with the wounded and those who survived but carried the memory of that night.

“Nothing will ever be the same any more,” he added, speaking of “fatal human errors coupled with chronic shortcomings of the state”.

In office for almost six years, this is the first time since Mitsotakis was elected that he has been in such a difficult political position. He promised to move “more dynamically and quickly” to bring about modern and safe trains.

For Greeks this mass protest was unusual in that it was unrelated to the economy and their personal finances.

Thursday’s inquiry found that millions of euros had been paid out to cover the installation of safety systems along the railway, but that the project remained incomplete due to corruption and bureaucracy.

Relatives of those killed in the crash believe the goods train may have been carrying contraband fuel on behalf of a smuggling ring.

“It is impossible to determine what exactly caused [the fireball], but simulations and expert reports indicate the possible presence of a hitherto unknown fuel,” the report found.

“Serious information went missing because the site of the accident was not sealed,” experts say, increasing public anger and heightening speculation of a cover-up.

Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis denied there was a cover-up and said the allegation was not backed up by the report.

Further allegations have surfaced suggesting orders were given to clear the crash site and “landfill” it days after the disaster, which meant that evidence disappeared. But Marinakis said the inquiry report concluded that no political directive was give to alter the scene.

As he stood in the midst of Friday’s protest in Syntagma Square, Pavlos Aslanidis spoke about the death of his 26-year-old son Dimitris in the Tempi accident.

“I don’t know how I find the strength to stand,” he told BBC.

“My son gives me the strength. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here today demanding justice.”

While no injuries were reported among passengers, six elephants died from the accident in Habarana, east of the capital Colombo.

Two injured elephants were being treated, police said, noting that it was the worst such wildlife accident the country had seen, AFP reported.

It is not uncommon for trains to run into herds of elephants in Sri Lanka, where casualties on both sides of human-elephant encounters are among the highest in the world.

Last year, more than 170 people and nearly 500 elephants were killed in human-elephant encounters overall – and around 20 elephants are killed by trains annually, according to local media.

Elephants, whose natural habitats are affected by deforestation and shrinking resources, have increasingly strayed into places of human activity.

Some have urged train drivers to slow down and sound the train horns to warn animals ahead on railway tracks.

In 2018, a pregnant elephant and its two calves similarly died in Habarana after being struck by a train. The three had been part of a larger herd crossing the train tracks at dawn.

Last October, another train ran into a herd in Minneriya, about 25km (15 miles) away from Habarana, killing two elephants and injuring one.

There are an estimated 7,000 wild elephants in Sri Lanka, where the animals, revered by its Buddhist majority, are protected by law. Killing an elephant is a crime punishable by imprisonment or a fine.

Thousands of people reportedly crammed into the railway station on Saturday night as they tried to board delayed trains.

Four of the victims were children, while 10 were women, according to a list released by officials.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his thoughts were “with all those who have lost their loved ones” in a post on X.

Crowd crushes are common in India where there is frequent overcrowding at religious events, festivals and public spaces.

The incident comes weeks after 30 people were killed in a pre-dawn crush at the religious festival, Kumbh Mela, in northern India, where tens of millions of Hindus had gathered to bathe in sacred river waters on one of the holy days of the six-week event.

In Delhi, witnesses told BBC Hindi that a “huge crowd” had gathered at the station, through which many people were travelling to and from the Kumbh Mela, which is being held in Prayagraj city in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state. Hundreds of people were also waiting for trains to other places.

According to officials, two trains had been delayed at the station, while a third – heading to Prayagraj – was waiting to depart.

Ruby Devi said the crowd at the Indian capital’s main railway station had been so big she was unable to get inside.

Umesh Giri, whose wife Shilam Devi died in the crush, said that the crowd was “uncontrollable” as he tried to board the Prayagraj Express.

Dharmendra Singh, who was also travelling to Prayagraj, told India’s PTI news agency that there were” far more people than I have ever seen at this station”.

“In front of me, six or seven women were taken away on stretchers.

KPS Malhotra, deputy commissioner of police (railways), said that authorities were investigating what led to the crush.

“This happened due to a delay in two trains arriving and more people gathering at the station,” he said.

Opposition leaders have criticised the government, accusing them of administrative failure.

“Considering the large number of devotees going to Prayagraj, better arrangements should have been made at the station,” Rahul Gandhi, the leader of opposition in India’s parliament, posted on X.

Railway officials said the passengers got down from the Mumbai-bound train in western Maharashtra state after someone pulled the emergency cord, causing it to stop.

They were hit by a train on an adjacent track. It was not immediately clear whether there had actually been a fire.

India has launched a $30bn (£24bn) programme to modernise its railways in recent years but this has been marred by a series of accidents, including a major three-train crash in 2023 in the state of Odisha which left nearly 300 people dead.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also called for modernisation of the railways to boost the economy and connectivity.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a post on X that he was “deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives” during the incident near Pachora in Jalgaon district, about 400km from Mumbai, India’s financial capital.

He said eight ambulances had been dispatched and hospitals were on standby.