A father of two has died following a head-on collision on Ellados Avenue in Aradippou, reigniting long-standing complaints about the lack of street lighting on one of the area’s busiest roads.
Nikos Nikolaou, a 52-year-old bank employee from Dromolaxia, was fatally injured in the crash on Sunday evening.
Police said that at around 7:30 p.m., his saloon car collided with a van driven by a 68-year-old, who had a 34-year-old passenger. Nikolaou was trapped in his vehicle and had to be freed by the fire service.
He was taken to Larnaca General Hospital, where a doctor pronounced him dead. Both occupants of the van were also taken to hospital. The 68-year-old driver was kept in for observation, while the 34-year-old was discharged.
Preliminary investigations indicate the van crossed into the oncoming lane, striking Nikolaou’s vehicle. Larnaca traffic police have issued an arrest warrant against the 68-year-old driver.
The stretch of Ellados Avenue near the overpass of the Larnaca–Airport motorway was closed for several hours following the crash.
Local resident Alexandros Ilia, who runs the City of Larnaka website, told Phileleftheros he had been raising the alarm about the road since 2023.
“I had been shouting about this for a long time so that we wouldn’t have to mourn victims — and unfortunately we’ve reached that point,” he said, adding that the bend where the crash occurred was in complete darkness. “It’s a road that doesn’t forgive mistakes.”
Ilia said he had contacted MPs Andreas Pasiourtides and Christos Orphanides, who submitted parliamentary questions on the matter in 2024. The issue was also covered by national media, including Phileleftheros.
He said approximately ten further accidents had occurred on the same stretch since then, including one two months ago involving three cars and children passengers.
Aradippou Mayor Christodoulos Partou said traffic lights and street lighting would be installed at three junctions along the avenue. He said the project had required a difficult approval process through the Public Works Department, which would cover part of the cost, with the municipality funding the remainder.
The mayor said the works should have been carried out by the state years ago, describing the road as having been handed over unfinished. The municipality, he added, would also construct pavements.
