Kostas Agorastos

A court in Larissa, Central Greece, on Thursday convicted four former regional authority officials for contributing to the devastating floods caused by the Ianos cyclone in September 2020, upholding accusations that they failed to carry out essential preventive work that could have stemmed the extent of the damage.

The decision by authorities to cover the site of last year's railway disaster in Tempe, central Greece, is now under investigation, following an order by the prosecutor's office in the appeals court of Larissa, Kathimerini has learned.

A former Thessaly regional governor, Kostas Agorastos, invoked his right to remain silent on Thursday at the parliamentary investigative committee tasked with probing the fatal train accident in Tempe, central Greece, on February 2023, citing his status as a defendant in the ongoing case. 

A former Thessaly regional governor, Kostas Agorastos, is to be prosecuted over charges of dereliction of duty and other misdemeanors in relation to works conducted at the site of the deadly Tempe train disaster, the region's prosecutor's office has announced.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday chaired a meeting with local administration officials near Lake Karla in the Thessaly region, which was impacted by Storm Daniel in September.

Two lawmakers of the main opposition filed on Tuesday a criminal complaint with the prosecution of the Supreme Court asking it to investigate whether a minister and a former regional governor attempted to deceive voters ahead of local elections a few weeks ago.

Clashes erupted outside a Roma settlement in Nea Smyrni, Larissa, central Greece, on Friday, when residents set fires to prevent the transfer of 35 people who had tested positive for the coronavirus to a facility where they will be quarantined for 14 days.

Eleven Roma settlements in the area of Thessaly will be subjected to rigorous inspections starting later this week to locate and contain possible coronavirus outbreaks, a meeting of health and local officials concluded on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Saturday promised that his leftist government will soon overturn a bill, which was ratified on Friday, ordering the transfer of public entities' cash reserves to the Bank of Greece, essentially an effort to keep the general state funded in the short term.