Candle lighting in Cyprus for 2005 air crash victims

Scores of candles will be lit in all towns of the government controlled part of Cyprus on Saturday, in memory of the 121 victims, killed in an air crash, near Athens in August 2005.

A press release issued by the Committee of relatives of the victims said that candles will be lit in Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca and Paralimni at 2000 (1700 GMT).

“We call on everybody to light a candle for those who died in such unfair circumstances. For us the relatives, it will be a comfort to see that you too are keeping their memory alive by lighting a candle,” the press release said in its appeal.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, officiated by Archbishop Chrysostomos II.

On August 14, 2005, a Helios Boeing 737 flying to Prague via Athens crashed into the mountainside of Grammatiko, north of the Greek capital. All passengers and crew on board perished.

A report by the Greek commission of inquiry into the cause of the crash suggested that human error coupled with mechanical problems led the aircraft to crash.