EIGHT Guardsmen were killed and 13 injured, four of them seriously,
when their Army truck yesterday careered off a mountain road and plunged
down a precipice in Cyprus.
All members of the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards, they were
returning to their base at Episkopi, after guard duty at the RAF radar
installation on Mount Olympus, in the Troodos mountains.
The Army last night launched an inquiry into the accident, which
happened when the four-ton truck failed to negotiate a corner on a
narrow mountain road, just north of the village of Moniatis.
RAF and Army helicopters ferried the dead and injured to the Princess
Mary Hospital at RAF Akrotiri.
An Army spokesman said there was nothing to indicate the incident was
anything more than a ''most unfortunate road accident.'' No other
vehicle was involved.
A battalion spokesman said it was a ''terrible tragedy. We are
naturally very upset and it is causing a lot of distress to a lot of
people''.
Britain maintains a large presence at three bases in Cyprus -
Episkopi, Dhekelia, and Akrotiri.
About 10,000 troops and their dependants are based there, together
with a 600-man contingent working with a United Nations peacekeeping
force.
According to police sources, the accident happened at the spot where a
Cypriot bus went off the road a few years ago, killing several
schoolgirls.
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