Athalassa missing persons remains to be exhumed

Presidential commissioner for human rights Photis Photiou will submit a proposal as soon as possible to exhume the remains of people listed as missing that were buried in the area of the Athalassa psychiatric hospital.

Photiou said experts had uncovered some remains belonging to 31 people, mainly patients, killed when Turkish warplanes bombed the hospital in July 1974.

The bombs killed 33 people, including three Turkish Cypriots. The bodies of two were handed over to their families for burial while the rest were buried in a large crater created by the bombs.

The exploratory dig was carried out in the past few days in a bid to confirm the exact location of the burial.

The remains were found at a depth of 2.5 metres, wrapped in a blanket. Samples were collected from the bones to determine the quality of the genetic material, which could have been affected by debris that was dumped in the area at various times.

 

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