Couple injured after quad bike falls off cliff

A footballer who plays for a local team and his girlfriend were injured in a quad bike accident in Paphos on Sunday, when they fell off the same cliff where another foreign couple was killed last year.

According to local media, 27-year-old footballer Carlos Miguel Tavares Oliveira, known as Carlitos, was driving a quad bike in Paphos district with his 22-year-old girlfriend in the backseat on Sunday afternoon.

Reports said Carlitos, a right winger for Cypriot club Doxa Katokopias FC, was driving the quad bike on a dangerous dirt road in Akamas Peninsula, from Baths of Aphrodite towards Fontana Amorosa, when under circumstances still unclear he lost control of the vehicle.

The quad bike and the couple ended up falling off a cliff in Kako Skali, with both sustaining serious injuries following a 40-metre fall.

Emergency rescuers rushed to the scene where they spent hours until they managed to pull the couple to safety.

Carlitos and his girlfriend were rushed to the Emergency Room at Paphos General Hospital, where doctors said the woman was in critical condition and the soccer player had sustained very serious injuries.

Police said they believed the incident was a single-vehicle accident, according to preliminary findings, with officials adding that the incident took place at the same location where a Russian couple was killed last year.

Kako Skali, which means "bad step" in Greek, has been frequently described as a dangerous dirt road with an uneven surface and very close to cliffs above the sea. The area is a popular attraction among couples and nature lovers.