At least three people were killed when a school minibus collided with a truck in the occupied areas of Cyprus, close to a quarry, on Tuesday morning.
Two 16-year-old schoolgirls were among the deceased, with the third reported to be school bus driver.
The bus was heading to Bulent Ecevit school, according to Turkish Cypriot media.
Reports from the occupied areas suggested that the accident occurred on a road heading from occupied Dikomo towards Kyrenia.
All the injured were transferred to a hospital in the occupied area of Nicosia.
So-called ‘Health Minister’ Faiz Soutsiouοglu visited the hospital and announced that the bus had collided head-on with the truck, pressing down on the three at the front of the bus.
Plead for blood donations
The hospital to which the injured were taken has pleaded for blood donations, according to Turkish Cypriot media.
In a tweet, Deputy Government Spokesperson Victoras Papadopoulos, wrote: “The government offered to help as it may, if requested by the Turkish Cypriot side.”
Papadopoulos also mentioned that Cyprus Government Spokesperson Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot counterpart Baris Burcu were in communication.
Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci updated his Twitter cover photo to black before tweeting: “We lost our children. The pain of our family and friends is painful. Our injured need urgent healing.”
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades expressed his “deep sorrow” and “heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and the injured,” also via Twitter.
Turkish Cypriots were taking to social media to criticise the occupied areas’ leadership’s decision to not follow daylight saving time earlier this year as a probable cause to the accident.
The incident occurred during sunrise, at around 8am (occupied areas time), when visibility isn’t as clear during daylight hours.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and illegally occupied its northern third.
Source: SigmaLive Greek
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