In a hilarious carom, where the issue of the pyroball passes, literally like a hot potato, from the hands of one expert to the next, ending in an absolute vacuum, the investigation into the Tempi accident has been evolving over the last 24 hours. Making, in addition to other side effects on a social and political level, the immediate intervention of justice necessary and necessary.
Successive and impermissible recantations, along with a merry-go-round of denials of responsibility, successively by Greek and foreign scientists, are destroying any credibility supposedly held by bodies such as EODASAAM, the universities of Ghent, Pisa, etc. Ultimately leaving public opinion more confused as to what really happened on the fateful night of February 28, 2023 in Tempe.
The investigation by the judiciary is now underway, as on Monday, April 7, the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Georgia Adeilini, requested the "investigation of the circumstances under which the conclusion of EODASAAM (National Organization for the Investigation of Air and Railway Accidents and Transport Safety) for the Tempi case was included, according to which (with the contribution of the Universities of Ghent and Pisa) an unknown volatile flammable liquid of at least 2,5 tons, allegedly transported by the commercial train and which was not related to the engines of the trains or their declared load, was considered as a possible cause of the pyroclastic flow, which was created immediately after the collision of the trains."
In her order, Mrs. Adeilini refers to "ex officio prosecuted criminal acts, such as, for example, undue influence on judicial officers, following the denial by representatives of the universities of Ghent and Pisa of the above conclusion attributed to them in the report."
Furthermore, the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court requests that an investigation be conducted into, among others, the role played by the Independent Expert Families Investigation Committee (EDAPO) in formulating the above conclusion. Specifically naming the technical advisor to the families of the Tempi victims, Kostas Lakafosis.
The spark for the latest, subversive developments was the revelation, on Sunday evening, April 6, that the two researchers from Ghent University were never called upon to investigate the Tempe accident and never carried out any simulation on behalf of EODASAAM. While the Flemish university was even dissatisfied with the way its contribution was mentioned in the EODASAAM report.
According to research by the online information reliability monitoring organization Hellenic Hoaxes, the sole task of the Ghent scientists was to formulate opinions in relation to 3 preliminary simulations of the conditions for the creation of the pyrosphere. These simulations had been sent to Ghent by the technical advisor to the families of the victims, Kostas Lakafosis.
It was clarified, however, that the Ghent experts do not approve of any findings of these simulations. Which, however, had already been included in the conclusion published (in English) by EODASAAM on February 27, 2025.
At the same time, the University of Pisa in Italy, in an email to EODASAAM, demands amendments to the conclusions of the report, as some of them had not been previously checked and approved by the university. In other words, Pisa accuses EODASAAM of arbitrarily invoking the name - and prestige - of the university. Specifically, Professor Gabriele Landucci requests that any reference to the University of Pisa be removed from the Tempi report.
As a result of this double distancing from EODASAAM and its findings, particularly in the section where the pyrosphere is analyzed, the organization's president, Christos Papadimitriou, announced that the Organization intends to redraft the findings, complying with the objections of foreign universities. Omitting in the new version the reference to the possible existence of an illegal cargo of flammable material.
In essence, the disorderly retreat of EODASAAM blows up the credibility of the entire report. Which extends to 178 pages and until a few days ago was considered the most thorough analysis of the accident, at least so far. This is no longer the case. EODASAAM, symbolically, committed suicide.
In any case, and after the expected uproar that was created, the exchange of messages between the president of EODASAAM, Christos Papadimitriou, and Bart Akou, deputy director of the European Railway Agency, was made public.
The exchange of e-mails confirms that, approximately 10 days before the announcement of the findings, Messrs. Papadimitriou and Akou were more or less in agreement to proceed with the publication of the conclusions, even though the conclusions of foreign universities on the origin of the pyrosphere were pending. Mr. Akou in particular seems convinced that no further investigation is even necessary, since in his opinion, the fire could not have been caused by the ignition of silicone oils, but by some unknown combustible material.
Meanwhile, on Monday night, in a report by journalist Georgia Lagou, Ant1's main news bulletin presented a written communication with Ghent University professor Bart Merci. He, in summary, revealed that Ghent had completed two reports on the pyrosphere, which it sent to EODASAAM last January. However, for some unknown reason, EODASAAM did not include Ghent's reports in the final text of the conclusion.
In the same report, Professor Bart Merci confirmed that Ghent did not conduct simulation experiments using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), but was content to examine, secondarily, the findings of the research in Greece. Ghent's point of contact with the Greek side, as Professor Merci stated in his email to Georgia Lagou, was not directly with EODASAAM, but with Kostas Lakafosis - although the latter is an independent expert and is not related to the Organization.
K. Lakafosis: Insists on "flammable material"
Kostas Lakafosis appears unmoved in his views, repeating in his latest television interviews his own theory that the fire that broke out immediately after the collision of the two trains in Tempe on February 28, 2023, could not have been caused by silicone oils.
Instead, Mr. Lakafosis claims (in this case speaking on Monday 7/4 on the Ant1 show "Proino" and Giorgos Liagas) that "I have spoken about flammable material and I continue to say so. For the pyrosphere, I have said that the upper limit of material is 3,5-4 tons and we are making successive calculations to find the lower limit, the minimum quantity that can create what is seen in the video. Find me even one serious chemical engineer at a Greek university who claims that silicone oils burn. There is not a single one. There are too many chemical engineers who say 'of course they don't burn'. And when you ask someone 'why don't you say it publicly?', they answer 'I can't get involved'".
Kostas Lakafosis, in his capacity as technical advisor to the victims' families and expert, has been at the center of intense and multiple criticism in recent days. Not only for the interpretation he initially proposed, mainly for the causes that led to the creation of the well-known "pyrosphere", but also for his scientific and professional competence, as well as for his mediation between the Greek investigators of the accident and the university institutions abroad, from which further scientific assistance was requested.
In his same interview with Ant1, Mr. Lakafosis, defending himself, stressed that "there is no 'Lakafosis conclusion'. There are 2 conclusions of EDAPO (Committee for the Investigation of Independent Family Experts), these have been filed in the case file, which go as far as some evidence. The conclusions have not reached Ghent and I am called upon to give explanations for journalistic leaks that I did not make. The whole discussion about the Ghent conclusion, how many tons were there, Ghent's ruling, etc., where did they come from? Did I ever say them? How did they come about in the public debate? I, who am accused of misleading public opinion, have not signed anything as a public body. I believe something and I say it."
Regarding the questioning of the EODASAAM conclusion and the decision of its president to remove the pyrosphere from the document, Kostas Lakafosis believes that there is a "political game", "methodology", "political pressure on the universities of Ghent and Pisa", "time management", "timing", that "someone has orchestrated all of this", etc.
Maria Karystianou sides with K. Lakafosis
At 21:07 on Monday, April 7, Maria Karystianou, mother of a victim of the tragedy and protagonist in inciting anti-government demonstrations on the occasion of Tempi, made a public intervention via social media, openly siding with Kostas Lakafosis. In her lengthy post and with her characteristically sharp style, Maria Karystianou attacks once again with vigor, both the government and the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Ms. Georgia Adeilini.
Among many other things, and after briefly repeating previous accusations, Ms. Karystianou attacks Ms. Adeilini again, this time for ordering a preliminary investigation for undue influence on judicial officers. According to Maria Karystianou, “the only influence that ultimately exists is the order of the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office itself, which inspires fear in anyone who dares to express a scientific opinion contrary to the government narrative.”
Source: protothema.gr
