Both Cypriots on Greek train identified, three-day mourning announced (Update 5)

A three-day mourning period was announced on Friday after the bodies of the two missing Cypriots aboard a train that crashed in Tempi, Greece were identified.

23-year-old student Kyprianos Papaioannou from Avgorou was identified on Thursday night, among the dozens of victims of the deadly collision on Tuesday night, using DNA testing.

Early on Friday, the body of 24-year-old Anastasia Adamidou, a dental school student in Thessaloniki, was also identified.

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.

Christodoulides also declared a three-day mourning period.

The president said he has spoken with both of the families and passed the state’s condolences on to them.

He added that he also received a phone call from Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, who expressed his sorrow over the loss of the two students.

“These are difficult times,” foreign ministry permanent secretary Kornelios Korneliou said earlier.

Speaking on Friday morning, Korneliou said that Papaioannou’s body was identified sometime after 10pm on Thursday, when the Cyprus embassy in Athens informed the foreign ministry and his family.

“We don’t know when the body will be returned,” he said.

Papaioannou’s family has been in Greece since Wednesday, while Adamidou’s family returned to Cyprus on Thursday after having given DNA samples.

The Famagusta Music School, of which Papaioannou was a member, said on Facebook that with immense sadness and shock it bids farewell to its beloved former student, “who so unexpectedly and unfairly lost his life in the tragic accident at Tempi.”

It said that Papaioannou was very much loved by his classmates, teachers, and staff both at the music school and Fotis Pittas High School, which he also attended.

His love for Byzantine music led him to the Famagusta Music School with his focus being on Greek Orthodox chanting.

He graduated from the school in 2018 with excellent grades and after his military service as a commando, he continued his studies in law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Even after his graduation, he continued to contribute to the music school by participating with its students in local events.

The school’s administration expresses sincere condolences to Papaioannou’s family.

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.

Speaking about Adamidou, the principal at her lyceum, Andreas Joseph said that she was a student with good-standing, top marks, and full of dreams for her future.

“She was at our school six to seven years ago. She stood out for her ethos and her community and student work. She was always ready to offer a helping hand to anyone that needed. We express our condolences to her family,” he said.

In a statement on social media the school 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!” another former teacher Angelos Agathangelou said

Political parties and politicians all sent their condolences over the death of the two Cypriots.

Disy and Akel said that that the loss was great, while former president Nicos Anastasiades also expressed his condolences.

Both Disy and Akel said that flags on their buildings around Cyprus would also be flying at half-mast.

Expressing their condolences to the families, Disy said: “Your pain is our all of our pain and that of all of Cyprus.”

Akel said their condolences for the families of the victims “who unfairly died in the tragic accident in Tempi.”

Anastasiades said: “My wholehearted support to the families of Anastasia and Kyprianos, our children who were lost in the train accident in Tempi.”