MIKE Morton witnessed the tragic events of yesterday morning from the veranda of a house less than 300 yards from the site of the crash, and was the first to notify the emergency services.
Morton, a 45-year-old BBC television journalist, is on holiday visiting his father-in-law. He told the Cyprus Mail he was awakened by the sound of the “labouring engine” of the helicopter as it flew directly over his father-in-law’s house before crashing.
“It was flying low and awoke my father-in-law who got to the veranda just before me,” Morton said. “We heard what sounded like a low throbbing noise from the engines before they cut out, followed by a loud explosion. By the time we got to the veranda the wreck was engulfed in a fireball.”
He said the helicopter, which was flying from Nicosia to the Andreas Papandreou air base at Paphos, appeared to be attempting an emergency landing.
“From what I heard it seemed to be circling the area,” he said. “Once the engine cut out it plummeted. It was obvious straight away that no-one could have survived.”
“First on the scene was the local mayor and policemen with some local farmers about 30 minutes after the crash. The first emergency vehicles arrived about five or ten minutes later, ” Morton added.
Six emergency vehicles and three ambulances attended the scene.
The house where Morton is staying is located on a remote escarpment looking down on the Dhiarizos Valley, and is in an area regularly used by military helicopters for exercises.
“Two military helicopters had recently been doing manoeuvres in the area,” Morton said. He added that he took pictures of the wreckage at the scene, but that his film was confiscated by police officers investigating the incident.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
