Crush on Athens metro put down to technical problems

Hundreds of commuters on the Athens metro experienced an "unprecedented" crush during rush hour on Thursday morning at downtown Syntagma station and on several trains on Line 3, with one passenger describing the situation as "asphyxiating."

"I waited for the metro for around 8 minutes at Agia Marina [station], heading to Nomismatokopio. We couldn't fit. The situation became asphyxiating at Monastiraki and Syntagma. I've experienced crowding at central stations before, but today was unprecedented," Chryssa, a regular commuter, told Kathimerini, declining to give her full name.

Contacted by Kathimerini for comment, officials at the metro operating company STASY said the crush at Syntagma station was the result of delays caused by technical failures on two successive trains on the Piraeus-Doukissis Plakentias route. 

The passengers on the first train were asked to...