After we lost Kyriakos, I felt compelled to do something

Yiannos Oxinos, the father of Kyriakos who was killed in a Takata airbag accident, praises the public inquiry but says there remain serious unanswered questions

The other day I was on a business trip with my youngest son, Orestis. At the airport I had the good fortune to meet for the first time Alexandros Loungos, who was travelling on the same flight. He is a young man who, despite the endless difficulties he faces every day, is trying to find his way.

Since his 2017 car accident and the serious injuries he suffered from a Takata airbag, Alexandros has undergone 18 operations to restore his health. And yet, just a few days before the damning findings of Michalakis Christodoulou’s investigation were made public this week, the Road Transport Department (TOM) unbelievably called him to bring in the very car that had crashed eight years ago as part of its Takata airbag recall! Not one person in the entire department or transport ministry offered an apology, let alone took responsibility for this disaster.

It occurred to me that that fateful year – 2017 – is inextricably linked with the tragic events suffered by all of us who were directly affected by this case. A few months after the release of the infamous 2017 Road Transport Department circular, Alexandros was involved in an accident with the well-known consequences for him and for us. He took legal action but settled his case with the BMW parent company in Germany out of court. As part of the settlement, he signed a non-disclosure agreement. The result was that this terrible accident and the injuries caused by the Takata airbag remained a secret – a non-event – until 2023.

In January 2023, we lost my son Kyriakos in a similar accident, in the same BMW model and with same year of manufacture. BMW Germany, in its recall issued in 2020, labelled these cars as ‘Do Not Drive’, stressing that users of such vehicles were in mortal danger. The Pilakoutas Group, agent and distributor of BMW in Cyprus, did indeed send a letter to some owners but made no mention of the mortal danger the BMW principals spoke about.

We and thousands of other unsuspecting car owners were never notified. The claims at the Christodoulou inquiry by the Pilakoutas Group that it did not have updated information on the buyers are unconvincing. For 12 years, our BMW was regularly taken for a service to the dealership which had full contact details for delivery/receipt of the vehicle and general communication with the owner. A simple presentation by the company of the vehicle’s service history will prove the point.

After we lost Kyriakos, I felt compelled to do something. I did not want our case to be kept secret as well. People needed to know and to be protected. I asked for a meeting with Transport Minister Alexis Vafeadis and to his credit he saw me immediately on April 25, 2023. I left with peace of mind, believing the case was in good hands. I was wrong. No one contacted me again and I saw no meaningful action taken. In October 2024, 18 months after Kyriakos died, Styliani Giorgalli was killed by the explosion of a Takata airbag.

This scandalous indifference of the authorities was eventually exposed, thanks to the persistent urging of Kyriakos’ mother, which mobilised some deputies. They started asking questions and demanded accountability from the transport minister. Within two months a list of 80,000 vehicles with defective airbags appeared!

As regards the investigation findings, I must express my appreciation to the investigative committee and particularly its president, former supreme court judge, Michalakis Christodoulou. The investigative committee could easily have adopted the conclusions of the earlier Kotzapasis investigation, which in record time found that nobody was administratively responsible for the airbags fiasco. Instead, the committee held public hearings, and everything was out in the open. There are no perfect investigation findings that satisfy us all. But this one lays a solid foundation for the way forward and allows the attorney-general’s office, without constraints, to take the necessary action.

But there are also other questions and an urgent need for other aspects to be investigated:

1.           To reopen and investigate in depth the Alexandros Loungos case that links the BMW distributor/dealer to Kyriakos’ accident in 2023.

2.           To investigate the actions and the general role of car agents/distributors such as the Pilakoutas Group, directly linked to the 2017 and 2023 accidents.

3.           To investigate actions by the current transport minister from April 2023 to October, 2024. Vafeadis’ statements during this period are on record. What remains is for him to document the actions he took to prevent Styliani’s death.  

I hear many people saying that this case of staggering official negligence will be forgotten, like so many others in the past. I hope this will not be the case. I hope that something will finally change in this country. I hope that the public will feel that those who decide our fate are aware of their institutional role and have the courage to attribute blame fairly, where it exists.