British soldier killed in exercise accident

A BRITISH soldier was killed late on Saturday in an accident during a military exercise just outside the village of Sotira near Episkopi, the British military said yesterday.
Private James Parkinson, 26, a driver with the 44 Squad Royal Logistic Corps, was in Cyprus to take part in the “Winter Victory” two-week annual exercise by the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The exercise is the final exercise for Sandhurst officer cadets who will be commissioned from the academy next month.

The annual exercise was in its early stages when Private Parkinson was driving a four-ton truck with officer cadets in the back as part of a six-truck convoy moving from Epikospi to an area near Sotira.

At some point on a back road between Sotira and Zanadja, the convoy stopped and Parkinson got out to lower the tailgate when he was crushed between his own vehicle and the truck behind.

A military spokesman said it was not clear yet which of the two vehicles, which had both been stopped, began to move and then crush Parkinson. Investigations and a post-mortem examination are still taking place, he added.

According to police reports, the truck behind was without a driver, but the military official could neither confirm nor deny these reports.

The 26-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, shortly after 10pm on Saturday. No one else was injured in the accident.

For Parkinson, originally from Lincolnshire, the Winter Victory exercise would have signalled the end of his officer training and secured his promotion next month.

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.