Search and salvage operations continued on Friday at the site, in north-central Greece, where a tragic and shocking rail accident occurred on Tuesday evening, when two trains collided head-on. The official death toll reached 57.
A three-day period of mourning in the country was declared on Wednesday, hours after the head-on collision of two trains late Tuesday night.
Initial findings point to human error on the part of a station master as causing the disaster.
In an announcement issued on Friday, the Holy Synod of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece said memorial services will be performed at all churches in the country on Sunday, which is Orthodox Sunday amid Great Lent, for the repose of victims’ souls.
Meanwhile, messages from global leaders continued to be conveyed to Greek leadership in the days after the horrific accident, with US President Joe Biden and King Charles III of the United Kingdom the latest heads of state to offer their condolences.
Newly elected Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides on Thursday spoke by phone with Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to whom he expressed his deep sadness over the disaster.
In his message of condolence, the Archbishop of Canada, His Eminence Sotirios, stressed that “… All of us pray for the afflicted and their relatives, but also for the deceased.”