EAC to stand trial in fatal substation accident

The Cyprus Electricity Authority will stand trial as a corporation in the fatal accident at a utility substation in 2021, but prosecutors won’t be seeking any prison sentence as there are no individual defendants in the case.

According to Reporter, EAC has been named as the sole defendant in the trial of a fatal accident in Latchia, a southern suburb of Nicosia, when two utility workers suffered severe burns during maintenance work at a utility substation in May 2021.

One of the workers, 48-year-old network technician Kyriacos Argyrou, died a month later in a medical facility in Athens.

Local media at the time speculated that the two employees had come in contact with electric wires inside the substation, resulting in an explosion, with their clothes subsequently catching fire.

Additional reports said after shutting electricity off to carry out maintenance work, the two men restored power and went back to the substation to reconnect power.

But an investigation to determine security measures and the exact factors that caused the explosion has not been made fully public.

According to Reporter, a case has been filed with the Nicosia District Court, with a trial scheduled to take place next month.

EAC has been named the sole defendant in the case as a public corporation, facing charges related to health and safety rules while maximum sentence includes fines up to €80,000.

Normally such offenses carry prison terms up to 4 years but there will be no jail time for EAC officials as no individuals have been named in the case.