IN TOTAL, 12 men, six sailors and six firemen were killed and 62 injured in the explosion that ripped through the heart of the Evangelos Florakis naval base.
By 3pm 10 of the 12 victims had been identified. Of the 62 injured 50 had received first aid at the island’s hospitals and been released while the remaining 12 were kept in for treatment, two of whom were in critical condition at Limassol general hospital.
Despite reports earlier in the day that Nicosia general hospital would be treating the majority of the injured, only three patients received treatment at the capital’s facility. Two of the patients had been on the Limassol-Nicosia highway at the time of the blast and had driven themselves to Nicosia general hospital and another patient who had reportedly suffered eye injuries also received treatment in Nicosia. Meanwhile Health Minister Christos Patsalides asked people who had minor ailments to refrain from visiting state hospitals’ Accident and Emergency departments and all scheduled surgeries were cancelled.
At Nicosia general hospital a special centre for relatives of the deceased was set up to the left of the Accident and Emergency department. A handful of police officers guarded the door outside and firmly refused entry to journalists.
“This is a place for the relatives at this time. Please respect their privacy,” a senior officer told a dozen journalists trying to make their way into the relatives’ centre. View to the room itself was blocked by dark curtains and an eerie silence settled just outside as medical staff, hospital cleaners, police officers and journalists huddled together in small groups and discussed the incident in hushed tones.
A hospital employee confirmed that psychologists and social workers had been called to the facility and were on hand to help the grieving relatives, among them DISY deputy and clinical psychologist Stella Kyriakides. Sandwiches, soft drinks and water were also made available to family members and friends.
At 2.30pm the Ministers of Health and Labour, Christos Patsalides and Soteroulla Charalambous, arrived at the hospital and were escorted in to meet with the relatives.
Outside the special centre some relatives gathered to have a smoke, looks of utter disbelief and confusion etched across their faces. A young couple in their late teens clung to each other for comfort, the young girl’s eyes red and swollen from crying. When the girl’s mother tried to talk her daughter into leaving the hospital she begged her mother to stay and refused to go with her.
Two other men were also embracing, one openly sobbing into his friend’s arms.
“Why? What happened? How could this happen?” he said, his unanswered questions sounding poignantly apt.
Another woman expressed her fears that her loved one had suffered for several hours before dying and muttered something about him making a telephone call prior to his death and how help had not arrived on time. Clad in black she sat with her face buried in her hands and pulled her fingers through her hair, shaking her head as if in disbelief. Despite her grief, however, she had time to call home and to check that her children were being taken care of and to offer words of comfort to another family member.
Mindful of prying eyes, relatives and friends of relatives of the victims didn’t hang around outside for too long. One or two did remain hidden out of TV camera view at the hospital canteen to chain smoke despite the stifling heat and to talk about what had happened. A family of four said they had heard one of the young soldiers killed had swapped his shift with another solider. Others talked about missing victims, a report the authorities denied.
Among the grief stricken was also Deputy Police Chief Andres Krokos who lost his fireman son in the blast. Dressed in uniform the senior officer walked mutely past his colleagues and joined the multitude of devastated relatives inside in the hospital.
By 4pm several family members had already left the hospital as there appeared no reason to wait around for the first of the victims to arrive at 7pm. One grief stricken woman, unable to steady herself, had to be held by each arm on either side by two friends who gently helped her into the passenger seat of a car. Another woman sat in stunned silence, oblivious to what was going on around her as concerned friends’ asked her if she was okay and squeezed her arm in support.
