Police to probe ‘sudden deaths’
POLICE have launched investigations into the “sudden deaths” of people in Çatalköy, Alsancak and Esentepe.
According to a police statement, Çatalköy resident Gunther Schweighart, 78, suddenly fell ill and died at his home at around 11.30am last Sunday.
At around the same time Kenan Gülmez, 67, was taken ill while in the sea near Alsancak. He was taken to Girne Dr Akçiçek Hospital but could not be saved despite doctors’ efforts.
On Wednesday Marilyn Jean Lee, 71, passed away at around 7.30pm after suddenly becoming unwell at her home in Esentepe. A police spokesman said that investigations into the deaths are ongoing.
Police also announced that Michael Steel, 80, who passed away on Sunday after “suddenly becoming unwell” in Safaköy, died due to a “heart attack and heart failure”.
Meanwhile an Esentepe resident has claimed that poor mobile phone signals in the Palm Homes area of Esentepe meant that “valuable minutes were lost” trying to call an ambulance for Ms Lee.
Keith Ellis told Cyprus Today that residents of the Palm Homes development have been experiencing “almost non-existent mobile phone signals for more than two years” and that the situation has “now become very serious”.
“We tried to phone for an ambulance for a neighbour who became ill, but with no phone signal we had to wait until a very weak signal was available,” he said. “This meant moving to another area so some valuable minutes were lost.
“The ambulance was called and it arrived some 15 minutes later. However, it appears that the ambulances do not have navigation equipment to come directly so I had to go down to the main road and flag down the vehicle.”
Mr Ellis stressed that the paramedics who arrived on the scene provided “exceptional” services and he praised their “care and response”, but that “sadly, the lady passed away”.
He also praised the local police for their “sympathetic and swift action”.
Mr Ellis added that the incident should serve as a “wake-up call” for mobile phone operators to “sort out this problem” that they have “failed to rectify after many years”.