Pedestrian killed in hit-and-run

A PEDESTRIAN killed in a hit and run accident in Limassol yesterday brought to five the number of people killed on the roads since New Year’s eve.
That compares to no fatalities during the 2002-2003 New Year period.

The body of Christakis Ioannou, 58, was found at 4.30am on Grivas Digenis Street in Limassol just near church of St. Nicolas. He had been struck by a car that fled the scene. Ioannou was taken by ambulance to Limassol General Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
Police visited the scene of the accident, where Ioannou’s slippers were found further down the road.

They are conducting investigations to track down the driver who killed Ioannou and have asked anyone who may have any information on what happened to come forward.

Police said yesterday there were far too many road deaths for such a small population, appealing to drivers to take more caution when driving.
“Drivers must follow police traffic rules,” a spokesman said. “Once behind the wheel they drive too fast and are not careful enough. We have already had five road deaths this year. How many more people must die on the tarmac before drivers wise up?”

By December 18 last year, there had been 94 road deaths in Cyprus, matching the figure for the whole of 2002. Complete figures for 2003 are not available yet.
The figure bucks the trend of a recent decline in road death figures, falling from an average during the last two decades of around 113, to 98 in 2001 and 94 in 2002.

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.