Police investigations into the October death of 19-year-old Styliani Georgalli suggest her fatal injuries were likely caused by a defective airbag, sources close to the investigation told philenews on Friday.
“Nothing else contributed to Styliani’s death except vital organs being pierced by a metal object”, a senior traffic police officer said. The investigation, conducted by Famagusta Traffic Department with assistance from police headquarters’ accident experts, is nearing completion.
Forensic pathologists Angeliki Papetta and Orthodoxos Orthodoxou determined the cause of death as haemorrhagic shock due to rupture of the ascending aorta and lung by a metal object. They recommended further investigation and took samples for laboratory testing.
The crash occurred around 7am on October 21 when Giorgalli’s car hit a guardrail on the Avgorou-Frenaros road. Investigators noted the vehicle sustained only minor front-end damage, with the driver’s compartment remaining intact, making the severity of injuries inconsistent with the impact.
Police are now investigating the airbag type and whether it was among those considered defective. This would be Cyprus’s second confirmed airbag-related death, following 24-year-old Kyriakos Oxinos’s fatal incident in January 2023, which involved a defective Takata airbag.
