Death toll in Ziyamet crash rises to two: 72-year-old driver dies

On Northern Cyprus, 72-year-old Mehmet Kırlar, the driver who was seriously injured in a three-car crash in Ziyamet, has died. The death toll in the accident has risen to two: 62-year-old Günay Kırlar, who was travelling in the same car, previously died in hospital.

The accident occurred on 29 August at around 15:00 at a bend in the Bağlar area. According to police, a passenger car with registration number KE 516, driven by Meryem Temiz, was travelling from Ziyamet towards Kumyalı when the driver lost control of the vehicle at the bend.

The car crossed into the oncoming lane and struck the right rear of a vehicle with registration number RK 002, driven by Halil Küçük. KE 516 then crashed into the steel barrier on the left side of the road, was thrown back onto the carriageway, where it blocked the path of the MP 494 vehicle driven by Mehmet Kırlar, and collided with it.

Five people were injured: the passengers of the first car — 16-year-old Ceren Nisa Artık, 24-year-old Meryem Güngör and 18-year-old Yaren Artık — as well as the driver and passenger of the third vehicle. They were all taken to Famagusta State Hospital. Günay Kırlar could not be saved — her death became the 27th road fatality in the TRNC since the beginning of the year.

Mehmet Kırlar was transferred to the intensive care unit of Near East University Hospital, where he died despite all medical interventions. Meryem Temiz, who was driving KE 516, was arrested, and the investigation is ongoing.