two people die after heavy rain

[cypezokyli]

Body recovered in flood tragedy
By By Joe Lewis

RESCUE workers yesterday found the body of a woman caught up in a ferocious mudslide brought on by torrential rain in the Paphos area on Monday. Her husband is still missing.

After an extensive search and rescue mission, the body of the woman, who was identified as Maria Miltiadous, aged 38, was recovered at around 2pm, three kilometers from where the couple had been hit by the mudslide in their car. The search for her husband, George Miltiadous, 45, was postponed overnight, although the chances of finding him alive look slim.

The married couple, who have two teenage boys, were driving home from work at around 7.30 on Monday night, when, crossing the Arkokalami River bridge in Kissonerga, their car was hit by a torrent of water and mud. Early reports suggest that the car was pressed up against the railings of the bridge long enough for them to phone a family member to ask for help.

Stavros Kasparis of from the Civil Defence department told the Cyprus Mail, “The couple was going home, and then, as they tried to cross the bridge the water put them on the rails. They called a cousin to ask them to get the fire department. This was at about 7.30pm. We arrived at about 8pm.” But by the time the fire and police services arrived the car was nowhere to be seen.

Reports suggest that the bridge had been damaged in the last heavy bout of rain 16 days ago. Despite the authorities having been notified of the damage, nothing had been done to fix it. This speculation could not, however, be confirmed by the municipality.

An extensive search and rescue effort called in services from all over Cyprus. A team of over 100 people, including the fire, police, Civil Defence, the army, volunteer rescue teams and countless members of the public pulled together to try and recover the couple.

A total area of four kilometers was searched, every available resource being put into action. Helicopters scanned the devastated area, divers searched the seabed and dogs combed the riverbed for any indication of the couple’s whereabouts.

After a night of frantic searching on Monday, in which one policeman was taken to hospital with hypothermia, it became clear that the chance of the search ending with any kind of success was slim.

Evidence of the sheer scale of destruction littered the riverbed. Trees were ripped from the banks of the river and telephone lines lay flat on the flood plain. Huge amounts of mud and debris had been carried downstream with a force so great that it was sufficient to push the car through seemingly impossible spaces.

The vehicle was found one kilometer from the bridge, in what was described as an unrecognisable state. Peter Ashton, a volunteer from the Limassol rescue team, described the condition of the recovered car. “It had been crushed into a cube by the incredible pressures and the engine had been ripped from the inside. How it got through the spaces that it must have is beyond me.”

Maria Miltiadous’ body was discovered by a search dog from the Nicosia Civil Defence unit two kilometers from where the car was found. Friends and family members were present as her body was recovered from the mud.

Her body was taken to Paphos hospital, where a postmortem examination will be carried out today. The search for George Miltiadous will resume at first light.



Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2006


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my grandfather used to say : never steal from an orphan or a river. sooner or later they will claim back what you took away from them. the river this time claimed two lives.

condolences to their family , and to their two children

lets hope that this tragic event will put some order in the no-respect-for-nature development of land....

[zan]

[100%cypriot]

Our thoughts are with the family of the missing man

[brother]

My very sincere condolences to their family in these difficult times and the children now left with no parents, my thoughts and best wish's are with them.

[Leyla]

What an awful tragedy

[cypezokyli]

apparently turkey is also facing similar problems

[Cyprus rules!]

Such a terrible tragedy....

My heart goes out to the family...it really does...

Hopefully this will teach them to not ignore mother nature next time...and to slow down on the building business...

[Liza]

Very sad