Worker suffocates to death under pile of dirt

Both police and the labour office were investigating a work-related fatality on Monday, after emergency rescuers retrieved the body of a local builder from a collapsed retaining wall in Limassol.

According to police, 54-year-old Georgios Georgiou from Galata was working on Monday early afternoon at a construction site near a hill in Ayios Tychonas, Limassol district, when a retaining wall collapsed around 1:30pm.

Georgiou, who was coating the retaining wall at the time, was trapped under a huge mound of mud until emergency rescuers and sniffer dogs managed to retrieve his lifeless body around 6pm.

State forensic pathologist Nikolas Caharalambous, who was called at the scene, determined that Georgiou had sustained multiple bruises mainly to the head.

Officials from the labour office were reportedly investigating the incident, which took place at a construction site where a private contractor is building a residential community on a hill.

The fatal incident took place at the foothills of the community where the retaining wall collapsed under circumstances still pending investigation.

A post mortem scheduled for Tuesday was expected to show the exact cause of death as well as a timeframe associated with Georgiou’s death. 

Updated reports said the post mortem showed Georgiou died from asphyxiation, while no statements were made about regarding the time of death.

Story updated with reports following post mortem