Thousands march through Athens to mark train crash anniversary and demand justice

Thousands of striking Greek workers and students marched through central Athens on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the country's deadliest train crash - and demand justice and bigger pay rises.

The 24-hour strike halted rail services across the country and disrupted urban transport in the Greek capital. Ships were held up in ports near Athens, as rail and hospital workers, ship and ferry crew and school teachers all walked off the job.

Some of those marching in Athens held up a black banner reading: "We don't forget, we demand justice."

A year ago, a passenger train from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki collided head-on with a freight train, killing 57 people and stirring mass protests over what many viewed as the result of decades of neglect of the rail sector.

Churches across the country rang their bells 57 times on Wednesday, to...