Pickup driver facing involuntary manslaughter

The pickup truck driver, who was transporting steel pipes that ended up fatally striking a truck driver, will most likely be charged with causing another person's death through reckless behavior as well as carrying an unsecured load.

A 55-year-old man, described as a Greek Cypriot pickup driver, was arrested on Thursday after being involved in a fatal incident in Limassol.

Police said 49-year-old Mitko Mitev was driving his truck Thursday morning in Kato Polemidia, Limassol district, when he was struck by steel pipes that appeared to have come undone from a pickup truck moving in the opposite lane.

The incident took place around 11am, according to Limassol traffic director Michalis Michail, who said the steel pipes struck the driver and then bounced and hit another vehicle.

“The steel pipes were secured but it appears due to flapping, possibly as a result of being loosely tied, they swung away from the cargo bed, and some of them struck the 45-year-old truck driver in the opposite lane,” Michail said.

Mitev, described as a Bulgarian national and permanent resident of Nicosia, was driving with a 38-year-old male coworker in the front passenger seat.

Police did not say exactly how the driver was struck but local reports said Mitev had his window rolled down, when a number of steel pipes struck him in the head and then bounced, hitting another vehicle further back. The second car, described as a sedan, sustained damages while no other injuries were reported.

An ambulance rushed the truck driver to the Emergency Room at Limassol General Hospital, where doctors on duty pronounced him dead on arrival.

It was not clear whether the driver had seen the pipes and slowed down prior to impact but local media speculated that Mitev managed to slow down and pull over on the left side of the road before taking his last breath.

The steel pipes were described as galvanized pipes about 6 metres long and 22mm in diameter.

Police told Knews the pickup driver was expected to be released on Friday after being charged with involuntary manslaughter through reckless behaviour and transporting unsecured loads.