Female soldier who died in accident buried

The funeral of Corporal Natalie Neophytou took place on Saturday, held at public expense, with Neophytou buried with full military honours.

The funeral, which took place at the Apostolou Pavlou and Varnava church in Paphos, was attended by Defence Minister Charalambos Petrides and Chief of the National Guard Lieutenant General Demokritos Zervakis.

Commander of the unit where Neophytou served for three months Nicolaos Demosthenous delivered the funeral speech.

Demosthenous praised Neophytou’s personality, character and work rate.

“The National Guard family today said goodbye to one of its members, Corporal Natalie Neophytou,” a National Guard statement said.

“Natalie Neophytou was hired by the National Guard as a contracted soldier with the rank of Corporal and served in the 28th Armored Combat Vehicle division,” the statement added.

“The Commander, Lieutenant General Demokritos Zervakis and the staff of the National Guard, express their heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased”.

Neophytou was inside a military jeep after a training exercise at 11am on Thursday when the vehicle overturned. With her inside the vehicle were a a conscript and an officer also doing his national service.

In the back of the vehicle, she was rushed to Nicosia general hospital in critical condition and intubated, but doctors were unable to save her life.