Road deaths mar new year

THE BEGINNING of 2006 has been marred by three deaths on the island’s road.

On New Year’s night, 45-year-old Kyriacos Gregoriou from Dhali was killed instantly when he was hit by a car while crossing the road. The car was driven by a 24-year-old man.

The reasons behind the accident are various, said police spokesman Demetris Demetriou.

The absent-mindedness of both the pedestrian and the driver, the dim lighting of the road and the pedestrian’s dark clothing all contributed to the tragedy. The second accident took place yesterday afternoon in Paphos where 67-year old Evanthis Christodoulou, under unknown conditions, lost control of his motorcycle and died.

The third accident happened last night when a motorcycle had a head-on collision with a car, resulting in the bike rider’s death. The exact details had not yet been announced, but a police spokesman told the Cyprus Mail that the 42-year-old victim was British.

Demetriou also announced yesterday 94 accidents saw 102 people die in 2005. This was a small drop from 2004’s road toll of 117.

But the percentage of under-25s who lost their lives has risen dramatically, said Demetriou. “Of the 102 deaths, 45 were youths of under 25 years of age. That is a 44 per cent increase from last year.”

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.