THE bodies of 47 of passengers and crew killed in the worst air disaster ever in Cyprus are to be dug up and reburied in a communal grave in Larnaca due to a lack of space.
The graves contain some of the bodies of those killed on board a Globe Air flight which crashed as it attempted to land at Nicosia airport in 1967.
Of the 130 people on board, just four people survived the crash, which smashed the plane into several parts and was then engulfed in a ball of fire. The 47 graves in Larnaca contain the remains of those who were not sent home for burial.
Both the Swiss and British Embassies in Nicosia have confirmed to the Sunday Mail that no objections have been made by surviving relatives of the victims, who were primarily German, British and Swiss nationals.
It was also disclosed that no bodies will be repatriated to either Switzerland or the UK, with no relatives coming forward to request the repatriation of remains.
The decision to move the bodies was made by the organisation which runs the British Cemetery in Larnaca, who say they are desperately short of burial space and are concerned they will run out of room within the next twenty years.
It is not uncommon for bodies to be moved to common graves in Europe if a cemetery needs more burial space, but in Cyprus, this is thought to be the first time such drastic action has ever been taken.
The cemetery has become increasing popular with expatriates in recent years, many of whom have expressed the desire to be buried here after they die.
It is now estimated that up to 50,000 British expats alone live on the island, with many now looking at burial plots in Larnaca, Limassol and Nicosia.
The British Cemetery Committee now intends to proceed with the decommissioning of individual graves next year, with the remains being excavated and re-buried in a common grave in a corner of the same cemetery.
David Hardacre, the treasurer at the cemetery, told the Sunday Mail that plans for the re-location were proceeding well.
“After liaising with the Swiss Embassy and receiving no objection, the British Cemeteries Committee has decided to concentrate the graves of the plane crash victims under one monument,” he said. “The names of all will be listed, along with the date of the tragedy.”
A memorial plaque will be place above the mass grave.
Only four people were saved from the 120 passengers and 10 crew on board the Britannia airliner, which crashed just after midnight on April 20, 1967.
The plane came down during a violent thunderstorm three miles from Nicosia airport, but several theories have also suggested the crash could have happened due to pilot fatigue.
The survivors, two Germans and two Swiss, were treated at an Austrian-manned United Nations field hospital near Nicosia.
One survivor speaking to Swiss media last month recalled the horror onboard as the plane lost control.
“Women were crying and suddenly it was hell. I took a deep breath then banged my head on ceiling of the aircraft. After it was complete darkness, then I noticed the wing was on fire.”
The airliner, which was owned by the now defunct Swiss Globe Air Company, was carrying tourists on a return flight from Bangkok and Bombay, bound for Cairo.
Cairo airport, however, was closed owing to bad weather, and the Britannia jet was diverted to Cyprus.
Because of bad visibility the pilot, Captain Michael Muller, whose body will also be re-buried, was unable at first to make a landing.
He made two attempts and was on a third run when radio contact was lost and the airliner hit a hillside near the village of Lakatamia, then crashed into another hill and burst into flames.
Fourty-two years after the original burial, which was attended by over 200 relatives of the victims, it’s thought that no family have visited the burial site since 1990.
The coffins are aligned in four rows and occupy half of the cemetery.
The incident prompted then President Makarios to visit the crash scene the following day; he also held prayers for those lost in the disaster.
