Group’s sweep rider dies in motorcycle crash

Police are asking members of the public to come forward if they have information about a fatal accident in rural Nicosia on Monday evening.

According to police, a biker from Larnaca district was killed on the road Monday evening after 8pm, when his motorcycle crashed into the guardrails along a rural road in Nicosia district.

The biker, described as 40-year-old Savvas Constantinou from Xylotymbou, was moving westbound on the highway from Palaichori towards Agros along the Larnaca-Nicosia district boundary when his motorcycle overturned and he slammed into the guardrail on the side of the road.

An ambulance rushed Constantinou to the Emergency Room at Nicosia General Hospital where doctors on duty pronounced him dead on arrival.

An official report did not disclose any information regarding speed or other factors that might have contributed to the motorcycle veering off its course. However, officials later confirmed Constantinou had been wearing his protective helmet. 

But according to a Reporter story later on Tuesday, Constantinou was riding his motorcycle in the back of a group of biker buddies following a group outing. His fellow bikers reportedly did not realize immediately that the group's sweep rider had crashed behind them.

Constantinou, father of two young children, was said to have been working as a police officer on the British Bases.

Police on Tuesday morning formally asked members of the public to come forward if they have any information regarding the accident. People can contact Nicosia Traffic police or their nearest police station or dial the Citizen hotline at 1460.

The story has been updated with a photo and additional information on a biker group outing