It remains uncertain when the bodies of two Cypriots killed in the fatal train collision near Larissa, Greece will return to the island, reports said on Saturday.
The two Cypriots, Kyprianos Papaioannou and Anastasia Adamidou, were identified among the victims a day ago, prompting President Nikos Christodoulides to announce a three-day mourning period.
Papaioannou, 23, was from Avgorou and Adamidou, 24, was from Paphos. Both were students at university.
According to a report in Alpha News, it remains uncertain when their bodies will be returned to Cyprus for burial, as there are matters the medical examiners in Greece still have to deal with, before the bodies can be repatriated.
The young man’s father, the priest in Avgorou, who is still in Greece, went to the hospital on Friday, where he was informed of the process by the doctors there.
During his visit, the doctors gave the father his son’s cross and engagement ring.
Commenting the day before, President Nikos Christodoulides expressed his deepest sympathies to the families of the two Cypriot students.
He said the cost of transferring the bodies will be undertaken by the state, as will their funeral costs.
Following the identification of the two Cypriots, friends, family, and teachers have taken to social media to express their grief and condolences to their families.
The Famagusta Music School, of which Papaioannou was a member, said on Facebook that he was very much loved by his classmates, teachers, and staff both at the music school and Fotis Pittas High School, which he also attended.
Avgorou community leader Panayiotis Michaela told CNA that the community is on standby to do whatever it can to support the student’s family.
He said Kyprianos was a young man who was close to the church.
“His father is the community’s priest; he has been with us in good times and bad times. Now we have an obligation to support Kyprianos’ family and Father Christodoulos,” he added.
He had been travelling back to Thessaloniki after spending the long weekend with his fiancée.
Meanwhile, Adamidou was also on the train after returning from Athens following a trip to Bulgaria.
In a statement on social media her former lyceum said: “The sad news always travels fast. Anastasia is already an angel. Even up until the last moments, we were hoping for a miracle, that never came.
“In the classrooms we now sit, you sat, in the corridors we walk, you walked. You had dreams and goals that were shattered on the train tracks.”
“My dear sweet girl! We will always remember you!” a former teacher Angelos Agathangelou said.
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