THE GOVERNMENT has pledged to help the Syrian mother who lost her husband and two of her children after they drowned in a canal in Paphos on Friday.
The response to support the family has been overwhelming since the tragedy, both from the government and from the people that knew them.
Agriculture Minister Fotis Fotiou said that the government would take care of the cost of transporting the bodies to Syria, adding that it “was the least that we could do”.
The tragedy happened on Friday afternoon as the family was reportedly on a fishing trip at the canal which connects the two Paphos villages of Achelia and Yeroskipou.
The Syrian victim, 41-year-old Iman Halab, is said to have dived into the canal to save his two children, daughter Sumah, seven, and son, Aman, nine, who had slipped into the water.
The 10th Primary School in Paphos, which the two children attended, announced that the flags outside the school would fly at half-mast until the day of the funeral. The School’s Parents’ and Teachers’ Association began a campaign in order to collect money for the grief-stricken mother, who could not contain her sadness when she saw pictures of her children at the school that had been decorated with flowers and drawing made by their classmates.
The school also declared that a condolences book was open, while an emotional Headmistress expressed her sadness at the family’s tragic loss.
“I express my condolences to the family and I hope that God gives them the necessary strength and will to continue their fight,” Vefa Stavrinidou said
The Halab family had been living in the Dasoudi area of Paphos for the last few years after moving from Syria.
A friend of the family yesterday thanked the government and the public for supporting the family during such a difficult time, both financially and emotionally.
The mother, who has a two year-old infant, is currently pregnant with her fourth child.
People gathered on Sunday at the area where the tragedy occurred, while friends of the family threw flowers into the canal where the father and his two children had drowned.
Fotiou yesterday followed the Fire Department by calling for the canal to be enclosed before it accounted for any other victims. Fotiou called the canal dangerous, while the Fire Department said on Saturday that the drownings had been an accident waiting to happen.
“The edges of the canal are extremely slippery while if someone does fall in, it is extremely difficult to make their way back up because of the mud at the bottom,” they said.
The mother, who was just a short distance away from where her husband and children fell into the water, is reportedly not happy with the response of the Fire Services, who according to an eye-witness arrived at the scene more than half an hour late without the adequate equipment.
