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The 19-year-old did not have signs of severe blows or marks on his legs from the blocking of the door

17 August 2013 / 13:08:26  GRReporter
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The body of the unfortunate 19-year-old had some bruises on the shoulder and red spots in the neck area. He had a small hematoma on his forehead, too. There are no traces of other blows to the body. His death was caused by severe head trauma in the back of the head because of his fall from a height, and subsequent internal bleeding. This is the report of forensic experts George Dilernias and Soultana Marianou concerning the death of 19-year-old Thanasis Kanaoutis.

The young man died on Tuesday evening, falling from a trolley in an attempt to avoid the ticket check, following a conflict with a 29-year-old conductor. According to pathologists, the autopsy shows that the conductor has tried to catch him by the arm and pressed his neck, but did not hit him hard, as some witnesses claim, and without suffocating him.

It should be noted that the autopsy did not show that the young man's leg was trapped. This does not confirm the initial information, according to which his foot was stuck in the door of the trolley, which was closing and this led to his fall on the asphalt.

According to the report, his shoulders had scrapes as a result of the fall on the asphalt and possibly during the movement of the trolley, which was moving at a speed of approximately 20 miles per hour at that time. The forensic doctors noted that the autopsy could not confirm that Thanasis Kanaoutis was pushed, since there were no marks on his body. The report of the pathologist will be final after the submission of toxicological samples.

Meanwhile, yesterday, at the cemetery in Peristeri, Thanasis Kanaoutis was buried in an extremely tense atmosphere. Many people came to the cemetery, and slogans were heard at the funeral against the conductor, the driver of the trolley, and the poverty of society. Many young people stayed for a long time around the grave of the young man shouting "Blood is flowing, seeking revenge."

The funeral began at 5 p.m. and an hour before that, the open meeting of Peristeri organised a procession from the main square to the cemetery. Along the route, many slogans were written and a bus that was travelling along Panagi Tsaldari Street was damaged and the word "killers" was written with red spray on its windscreen.

After the funeral, a protest march back to Peristeri square followed. Protesters lit fires in rubbish bins, throwing stones at the police. A little later, the police used tear gas and dispersed the crowd.

Currently, the area is calm and the police have detained 9 people. Closed streets are now open to traffic and the subway station is also functioning. A little earlier, the management of the Public Transport Company ordered an investigation of the actions of the conductor and the driver during the tragic incident. This morning, a re-enactment of the accident was held in the trolley. Experts inspected the vehicle and mainly the process of opening of the door in the case of an emergency.

"They kill for a ticket"

Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Transport Nikos Stathopoulos confirmed on Skai TV that if the responsibility of the driver and the conductor is proven, they will be punished, but justice and the police will have the final word. Stathopoulos noted that the leadership of the Public Transport acts according to the instructions of the prosecutor. He confirmed that the company's employees who work as volunteer conductors receive a percentage of imposed fines, but in any case, the money does not exceed 200-250 euro per month, no matter how many fines are imposed.

Meanwhile, the father of the young man asked witnesses to give evidence to the police and tell the truth. According to him, it is not possible for someone to jump with their back frontwards. "Today this is my child. Tomorrow will be somebody else’s," he added. According to the father, there is information that the young man and the conductor have encountered before. The family lawyer made a similar call. Areti Papanayotou noted that the data showed that there was a clash between the conductor and the young man which was not limited to the exchange of remarks alone. She emphasised that we need to wait for the results of the investigation of experts and the autopsy.

Tags: conductor trolley ticket inspection accident burial Peristeri protest march autopsy
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