Notorious cliff in Akamas claims another life

A man was killed and his daughter was seriously injured in an accident in Akamas on Sunday, after their buggy car flew off a cliff and ended up in the water.

According to local media, 59-year-old Sebagh Gerald Andre from France and his 20-year-old daughter were riding a buggy in the Akamas area on the northwestern coast Sunday afternoon.

Police said around 3:20pm, under circumstances still pending investigation, the buggy went off a cliff in the Kako Skali area and tumbled down some 150 meters before ending up in the water.

Additional reports suggested the young woman fell off the roofless vehicle about half way down before her father and the buggy ended up in the sea.

Emergency rescuers pulled the woman to safety while a coast guard vessel rushed her father to Latchi port, where an ambulance transported him to the Emergency Room at Polis Chrysochous Hospital.

Doctors on duty at Polis hospital pronounced the father dead on arrival while the young woman was taken to Paphos General where she was being treated in serious condition.

An official statement did not clarify who was driving the buggy. It was also not established whether the father-daughter duo were on a private expedition or part of an organized safari.

But some local reports suggested family members on two quad bikes were following the buggy and witnessed the fall. 

A local Polis Chrysochous police station and Paphos traffic police are investigating the incident.

A number of fatalities and injuries have taken place in Kako Skali, which means "bad step" in Greek, with some local groups calling for the closure of many dirt roads in the area citing safety and environmental concerns.