Police arrest Egyptian for hit-and-run death

By Charlie Charalambous

A POLICE manhunt led to the arrest on Sunday of an Egyptian suspected of knocking down a British couple, killing the wife and seriously injuring the husband.

Margaret Crombie, 51, died instantly after she was sent flying by a car while out for an evening stroll with her husband, William, 52, in the tourist area of Limassol last Friday.

Police said the tourists had just stepped off the curb when a Fiat saloon came from behind and mowed them down.

Seaman Hassan Farouk Ali Darwish, 24, was remanded for eight days on Sunday in connection with the incident by a Limassol district court.

Police say he confessed in a statement to being the driver at the wheel in the fatal accident.

The Egyptian was arrested at Limassol’s old port, only minutes before leaving the island on a boat.

In his statement, the suspect apparently told police that he panicked when smoke started coming out of the car’s engine, losing control of the vehicle.

After hitting the tourists, the vehicle continued on its destructive course, crashing into three parked cars before coming to a standstill among the wreckage, where the driver abandoned the car.

Ali Darwish said he left the scene of the accident because he was afraid, according to police.

Police said the arrest followed a tip-off, which led them to another car which the Egyptian was driving with three Jordanian passengers.

The three Jordanians were arrested. Police said one of them was an illegal immigrant.

Warning shots were fired at the car, but the suspect fled the scene once again, only to be caught by police several hours later at the old port.

The British couple had arrived in Cyprus on November 23 for a two-week holiday at the Arsinoe hotel in Limassol.

William Crombie, who was taken to Limassol general hospital, suffered serious injuries but is said to be out of danger.

The accident took place on Amathus Avenue in Yermasoyia at around 9.10pm on Friday. Police said the owner of the car had left the island the previous day.

Limassol traffic police nevertheless still want to speak to Egyptian Yazid Abdalla Ahmed Mohammed Elnaggar, who is the owner of the car.

Limassol traffic police are continuing their investigation.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.