Two charged over killer crash

TWO MEN appeared before Limassol District Court yesterday on charges of causing the death of a taxi driver and a Finnish tourist and injuring six others in Monday’s taxi-tanker collision.

Thirty-two-year-old Nicos Zougros from Larnaca, the driver of the oil tanker that collided with the taxi, was remanded for three days, while the man thought to have caused the accident, Matheos Anastasiou, 30, was released and will be summoned at a later stage.

Anastasiou faces charges of causing the accident and leaving the scene without offering help to the injured.

Officer Andreas Foudros told the court that Anastasiou had failed to stop when the trailer he was driving joined the road, cutting off the oil tanker’s course. Police say an eyewitness called after Anastasiou telling him to stop because he had caused an accident, but he failed to do so.

He was not remanded as police have enough evidence to proceed with a prosecution. He will be summoned when the case reappears before court.

Four of the service taxi’s passengers, a National Guardsman, two British tourists and the dead Finnish tourist’s fiancé remain in a serious condition at Limassol General Hospital. Another passenger, 50-year-old Elizabeth Ioannou, is still in a critical condition at Nicosia General Hospital.