TWO PAPHOS teenagers were killed at the weekend in yet another fatal road accident, said police.
Apostolos Constantinou, 14, and Nicholas Nicolaou, 13, from Chloraka were killed at around 11.15pm on Saturday. The two youngsters had been illegally driving a moped on the main Kissonerga-Peyia road when, under circumstances being investigated, they collided with a double-cabin vehicle driven by a 37-year-old Paphos man.
The two teens were killed instantly and were pronounced dead on arrival at Paphos general hospital.
Police were not yesterday able to confirm which of the two had been driving the moped or which of the duo had been wearing the one helmet found at the scene. Either way, they had been driving the vehicle illegally, police added.
A breathalyser test established the 37-year-old had not been drinking at the time of the collision.
According to preliminary investigations the car driver had been overtaking when the accident occurred.
“He was driving and suddenly two mopeds driving side by side appeared in front of him. He tried to swerve to avoid hitting them but was unable to,” said a police officer, who wished to remain unnamed.
Although the collision occurred on an unlit stretch of road, neither biker had their headlights on, rendering them invisible to the car driver.
“Two boys were on the one bike and were killed outright because none of the drivers had any time to slow down. The other boy, also 14, escaped uninjured,” he said.
Investigators also discovered the two bikes were probably stolen. One of the two mopeds had its chassis numbers scratched off, while the second bike was reported stolen by a Paphos resident earlier this month. The teens’ parents have told authorities they did not know their sons were riding the mopeds.
The officer said the particular road was considered a black spot on the road network with three fatalities in the last 12 months.
“There was the double road death last year nearer Peyia with two Britons and on January 1 a solider was killed near Kissonerga,” he said.
“Of course we can’t just blame the road. The two boys were driving without lights and last year the Britons were drunk and speeding and the accident on New Year’s Day also involved a drunk driver.
“Yes, the road is dark and of course it should have street lighting, but it doesn’t mean we can exempt drivers from any responsibility. It’s not like we can say there were holes in the road and they fell into them and lost control of their vehicles. The tarmac is fine.”
The officer said he hoped more safety measures would be put into place some time soon.
“The accident occurred where there are plans to build a marina and the installation of better lighting could be in future plans,” he said.
“There also seems to be some confusion regarding who is responsible for roadworks and who will pay. Some say it is the public works department and others believe the local communities (are responsible). Hopefully they’ll reach and agreement and do something before someone else is killed,” he added.
The latest fatality raises the number of road victims to 23 this year. This is a 20 per cent reduction from last year, police said. During the corresponding period January 1 to May 25 last year, there were 27 fatal accidents with 29 dead. This year there number of fatal accidents was 19 with 23 dead.
Paphos traffic police is investigating.
