CYPRIOTS lit candles and laid wreaths and flowers during memorials and vigils in Nicosia, Limassol, Paphos and other communities as part of three days of national mourning in memory of the victims of the Helios plane crash north of Athens.
Mourners on Sunday night lit 121 candles – one for each victim – in Paphos.
Hundreds of candles that same evening also illuminated Gregoris Afxentiou Square in Limassol and Nicosia’s Eleftheria Square.
A memorial was held yesterday at 11.30am at Phaneromeni Church in the walled city of Nicosia. Bishop Vasilios of Trimithounta asked that everyone in the congregation pray “for the rest of the victims’ souls”. The emotion-charged atmosphere intensified as friends and relatives of the victims broke down when the Bishop read out the names of the dead.
Among the officials and dignitaries to attend the memorial were President of the Republic Tassos Papadopoulos and House President Dimitris Christofias.
“I want to assure the people,” Papadopoulos told reporters after the service, “that the government will not limit itself to an expression of condolence, but will stand by them and offer any support that they need and that the government can offer.”
He also assured the public that the government would “undertake every effort with seriousness and responsibility to explore the causes and to find the culprits, wherever they may be”. Papadopoulos added that he was in a dialogue with the European Union to investigate the mysterious crash and that he “won’t hesitate to bring in independent experts to explore where the responsibility lies”.
A memorial also took place in Limassol at Panagias Pantanassas, where Bishop Athanasios of Limasol prayed that God might cover the people will love to help them face their troubles and grief.
The Archbishop of Prague, who has been on pilgrimage in Cyprus since last Thursday, was also present at the Limassol memorial. The doomed plane had been scheduled to fly to Prague after a stopover in Athens.
August 16 has been declared a national day of mourning in Greece. Public services came to a standstill at noon yesterday to observe three minutes of silence. Messages of condolence have also come from officials in Germany, the UK, and the US among others.
With flags at government buildings still at half-mast, memorials and vigils will continue to take place throughout the island today. The village of Paralimni, which lost 16 of its inhabitants, and the Larnaca suburb Aradippou, which lost a family, have both declared 40 days of mourning.
Bishop Chyrsosotomos of Paphos said yesterday that “next Sunday every church in free Cyprus will hold memorial services”.
