Mother blames 'driver fatigue' in Limassol fatal accident

The driver in the latest rollover accident, where her daughter and another girl were killed on the highway outside Limassol, says she hadn’t slept for 30 hours before getting behind the wheel and losing control of her vehicle.

In the early hours Sunday morning, the 40-year-old woman from Russia was driving her car on the highway Nicosia-Limassol highway, with four children as passengers, her 11-year-old daughter and another girl of the same age, as well as two boys aged 14 and 15.

The children were coming back from an overseas trip and the woman had picked them up from Larnaca airport.

At one point, between the Moni and Parekklisia exits, the woman lost control of her vehicle and struck the guard rail, sending the car off to a spin for about 50 metres and then rolling over as it came to a stop.

The two girls who were sitting in the back without seat belts were killed instantly, with one of them crushed by the overturned vehicle.

State forensic pathologists said one girl died of lung and heart contusions while the other was killed by a fatal blow to the head.

Police identified three factors that played a role in the accident, saying fatigue, drowsiness, and not wearing seat belts in the back were all preventable mistakes.

The woman was detained for questioning but no arrest was made.

The accident comes just days following two similar road collisions when a father of two and another five-year-old girl died in seperate accidents. None of the victims in all three accidents had their seat belts fastened according to police. 

A Bulgarian driver in one of the previous accidents was arrested last week and charged with involuntary manslaughter. He pleaded guilty, saying he fell asleep at the wheel after taking prescribed medication.