Two Egyptians killed in highway pile up

Two Egyptian nationals were killed in a highway accident on Tuesday, when a drive shaft of a semi-trailer truck became detached, causing a pile up collision on Nicosia-Limassol freeway and shutting down both westbound lanes for six hours.

According to police, two Egyptian men aged 36 and 24 died in the collision and another friend was taken to hospital seriously injured. The three men had just arrived to Cyprus for work and were picked up by another friend at Larnaca International Airport.

Around 1pm, the Egyptians were in a pickup truck westbound on the Nicosia-Limassol highway when the drive shaft of a semi-trailer lorry became detached. At that moment, between Pareklisia and Ayios Tychonas, another minibus following in the same left lane swerved to the right, causing the pick-up truck to veer off course and slide sideways until it collided with the lorry.

The driver of the pickup truck and one of his passengers were killed instantly, while another passenger remains in critical condition at Nicosia General Hospital. A fourth passenger was taken to Limassol General after suffering multiple injuries.

Reports said the impact of the collision between the pickup truck and the lorry was so strong that the roof of the pickup truck was torn completely and the vehicle was badly misshapen.

Traffic police kept the both westbound lanes closed for six hours, with Traffic Police Director Spyros Spyrou saying authorities wanted to get a full picture. Traffic was diverted to coastal roads in the area until the highway was reopened around 7pm.

“The accident brings to mind an air disaster and the highway had to be shut down for so many hours in order to provide a full picture of what caused the accident,” Spyrou said.

Police are investigating the accident with media reports raising questions as to whether speed was a factor in the accident.