Protesters close motorway after teens' death crash

Hundreds of people blocked Greece’s main motorway today in protest at the lack of central crash barriers along a stretch where seven teenagers were killed in a bus crash yesterday.

Chanting “No more blood”, residents of the central city of Lamia blocked the motorway connecting southern and northern Greece near the spot where the bus packed with high school students crashed into a truck hauling glass.

The bus was carrying 37 youngsters and four teachers to Athens to watch the Paralympics. The crash happened 108 miles north of the Greek capital on a stretch of the motorway where it narrows from four lanes to two. It is considered one of the most dangerous on the Greek highway network.

According to police, 101 people have been killed and 344 have been injured in 188 accidents that have taken place along that stretch since 2001.

The exact causes of the crash are not known, but it occurred when the truck slid into oncoming traffic and slammed into the bus.

The crash prompted the government to declare a day of mourning tomorrow and ordered all schools around Greece closed for the day. It also prompted Paralympic organisers to cut back today’s closing ceremony of the games, cancelling festive portions.