Man dies while crossing highway near migrant camp

A young man was killed in rural Nicosia on Wednesday after he was struck by car on the highway, near the Pournara migrant camp.

Police said 28-year-old Jean Baptiste Lizongo Mokonza from Congo died on Wednesday evening after he was hit by a car on the Nicosia-Kokkinotrimithia highway, right across from the Pournara migration center.

The young man was reportedly crossing the highway on foot around 6:30pm when a car driven by a 72-year-old woman struck the pedestrian.

Mokonza was rushed to the Emergency Room at Nicosia General Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

A second car driven by a man also aged 72 slammed into the first vehicle, police said.

Police did not clarify whether Mokonza lived at the Pournara camp but sources confirmed he was an asylum seeker whose residence was registered in Nicosia.

Both drivers received medical treatment for minor injuries while they also tested negative for alcohol and drugs.

Nicosia traffic police are investigating the incident.