The Greek General Staff of National Defense (GEETHA) released the names and the pictures of the three soldiers who were killed in the horrific car accident in Libya. It is noted that the other two victims were translators, the son and the daughter of the president of the Greek community in Benghazi.
“In the morning hours of Monday, September 18, 2023, the repatriation of the bodies of Armed Forces officers whowere involved in a traffic accident on Sunday, September 17, 2023 was completed,” th GEETHA said in a press release.
After identification of the bodies, it was found that the fatally injured are:
Vice-Captain Glykeria Memekidou PN of the Health Department of GEETHA.
Squadron Leader Evangelia Andreadaki, 40, of the Health Department of the GHETHA.
Sergeant Major Giogos Voulgaris, 27, of the Special Warfare Command of the GEETHA.
GEETHA expresses its sincere condolences to their families”.
Note that another 13 members of the humanitarian mission were injured and transferred to Athens with a C-130 on Monday morning. Most of the injured are hospitalized with fractures and burn injuries, some of them are in critical condition.
Traffic Accident or Terror Attack?
The horrible traffic accident occurred Sunday noon, just a few hours after the Greek humanitarian mission consisting mostly of doctors, surgeons and nurses, had arrived in Libya to assist the flood-stricken people in Derna.
Pictures and footage from the accident spot showed the bus of the Greek mission indicating to a big fire.
Rumors in Greece claimed a “terror attack” and “suicide bomber” and even a “mine on the road” ignoring the fact that the driver of the truck that collided with the bus had his wife and three children with him and a mine would have destroyed the bus.
According to some media information, the truck had a modified tank of 200-litel fuel capacity, within is usual in some countries where one does not often see gas stations.
Nevertheless, the rumors and the confusion were fueled by the dilettante silence of the General Staff, the National Defense Ministry and the Foreign Ministry in the first 12 hours after the accident.
Gov’t: Traffic accident
Government spokesman, Pavlos Marinakis, stated on Tuesday that the government treats the death of the five Greeks in Libya as a traffic accident as the information was collected and confirmed.
He dismissed reported claims that a team of the National Intelligence Service EYP had traveled to Libya to investigate the causes of the accident.
While more and more retired Armed Forces officers indicate that the humanitarian mission to Libya was not “properly prepared with all safety banksnewscols,” the gov’t spokesman said “there is no question of trust in the GEETHA leader.
“There is no question of removing or of less confidence in the head of the GEETHA, Mr. Konstantinos Floros” Marinakis stressed.
He also dismissed the possibility that the Defense Minister Nikos Dendias will be removed from his post in a cabinet reshuffle, daily ethnos reported.