At the same time and in the same church on Monday, relatives and friends said their final goodbye to 23-year-old Nikitas Karatheodorou and his partner Kalliopi Porphyridou, two of the 57 dead from the train collision in Tempi.
The two funerals took place at 13:00 at the Holy Metropolitan Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Kalamaria.
Nikitas, who was from Thessaloniki but a firefighter by profession in Athens, as well as a Psychology student, took the train with his partner, also from Thessaloniki, to surprise their parents.
According to Proto Thema, the two young people were in the restaurant car of the train.
"You had a day off, you told me you were in a hurry to get ready to catch the train to see your family in Thessaloniki, I patted you on the shoulder and told you to go, see you when you get back! How to imagine that we would never talk again. Have a nice trip, little one..." wrote one of his colleagues.
The victim was the grandson of Nikitas Malioglou, the legendary veteran of Apollo Kalamaria from the 1950s and 60s, who passed away in July 2021, aged 85.
His family asked those who wish, instead of wreaths, to deposit the money to the "Talking about Autism" Association.
READ MORE: Train collision: Two sisters came from Germany for a funeral and died in Tempi.
