Armoured vehicle hits column of soldiers

By Martin Hellicar

ONE NATIONAL Guardsman was killed and another seriously injured yesterday when an armoured vehicle ploughed into a column of soldiers after an army exercise in the Larnaca area.

It happened at around 10.45am as soldiers were leaving the Kalo Chorio firing range, the Defence Ministry said.

Michalis Pentaliotis, 19, from Ayios Dometios in Nicosia, was run over by the armoured vehicle – a Cascavel – and died of serious abdominal injuries.

Fellow conscript Constantinos Prodromou, 19, from Engomi in Nicosia, suffered a broken leg and three broken ribs after being hit by the vehicle. His condition was later described as serious but stable. Trainee officer Christos Topouzis suffered minor injuries in the same incident.

Defence Minister Yiannakis Chrysostomis ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Pentaliotis and Prodromou were flown to Nicosia by police helicopter after the accident, but Pentaliotis was declared dead on arrival at the general hospital.

Chrysostomis, President Clerides and House President Spyros Kyprianou all visited the hospital to offer their condolences to the grieving parents.

The victim’s father, Modestos, is the chief of Civil Defence and his mother is employed at the Presidential Palace.

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