Bomb explodes near Greece railway company’s main offices in Athens: police

A bomb exploded Friday in central Athens outside the offices of Hellenic Train, Greece’s main railway company, authorities said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Local media said a newspaper and a news website had received an anonymous call shortly before the blast, with the caller warning that a bomb had been planted outside the railway company offices and would explode within about 40 minutes.

Police cordoned off the site along a major avenue in the Greek capital, keeping residents and tourists away from the building in an area with several bars and restaurants. Officers at the scene said a bag containing an explosive device had been placed near the Hellenic Train building on Syngrou Avenue.

The explosion comes amid widespread public anger over a 2023 railway disaster, Greece’s worst, in which 57 people were killed and dozens more injured when a freight train and a passenger train heading in opposite directions were accidentally put on the same track.

Criticism over the government’s handling of the Feb. 28, 2023 collision at Tempe in northern Greece has mounted over the last few weeks in the wake of the second anniversary of the disaster, which killed mostly young people who had been returning to university classes after a public holiday.

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Greece has a long history of politically-motivated violence, with domestic extremist groups carrying out small-scale bombings which usually cause damage but rarely lead to injuries.