Kourdali Accident

In June 1958, Panagiotis Georgiadis and Alekos Konstantinou started from Livadia by order of the head of the Caves Department, Christakis Tryfonidis, to go to Kourdali and build a hideout in the house of Andreas Patsalidis.

They carried with them two seven-kilogram bombs to blow up the Platanias forest station, two batteries, wires and a “pressure mine” device to deliver to Costas Anaxagorou. The four young fighters, initiated in EOKA from the beginning of the fight, had by then caused sabotage and losses in the British army.

On June 20, 1958, they met at Patsalidis’s house, in the area that the British called “Heart of EOKA”, since those villages had given the most young people to the struggle and all the guerrilla war was taking place there.

Preparing for their next bombing, they were working on the pressure mine. For some unknown reason, during their training, a dazzling glow and a deafening noise dissipated everything.

The newly built house of Andreas Patsalidis had been reduced to rubble, while the bodies of the four fighters were scattered on the surrounding pergolas in pieces. Neighbors from the surrounding villages ran to the area to see what happened.

“My God, one is torn to pieces!”, The first voice was heard while people were trying to recognize the faces on the torn bodies. Shortly before fainting, a woman shouted, “Look at the walnut tree,” pointing to the human flesh hanging from the branches.

Andreas Patsalidis’ wife, Maria, calmly held their little daughter Maria by the hand. Shortly before the four men began training, he discretely moved away with the child to another room to let them practice comfortably. This saved them from the violent explosion. As soon as the disaster occurred, she instructed her competitors to collect the weapons left in the house. “At least we saved the weapons,” he told the others.

Andreas Patsalidis, to whom the house belonged, came from Cannavia and was 28 years old. Married to Irini Alexandrou, father of a young daughter and an unborn son, he was one of the first fighters to join the EOKA race.

Together with his wife, who was also initiated in the struggle, they hid weapons and guerrillas in their house. Panagiotis Georgiadis, also known as the “Icarus” of the organization, was 29 years old. He had served in the struggle as Grivas’ liaison with Makarios, transported wanted individuals and had a hideout at his home in Livadia.

He was also wanted by the British and escaped as a guerrilla in the mountains to the team of Stylianos Lenas. Until 1958, he undertook the reorganization of Livadia that had been hit by betrayal until his death on June 20.

Costas Anaxagorou, to whom the pressure mine had to be handed over, came from the neighboring village of Spilia. He worked as a driver at the Asbestos Mine and was a founding member of the New Guild SEK and the Aris Sports Association, both of which gave many executives in the EOKA race.

His father, as soon as he learned of his death, said: “I lost the first one. I have another immediately, ready to take his place in the race “. The day he died along with his three competitors, he turned 23 years old.

The only one who did not come from those areas and to this day his tomb remains on the occupied side of the island was Alekos Konstantinou. Just 22 years old, the youngest of the company was the only child of Kostas and Elpiniki Konstantinos.

An English-speaking man, he had secured a place in the British army, but that did not stop him from embarking on the struggle for liberation and union. Together with his mother, he hid the organization’s weapons in their house, while he was in the Famagusta executive.

On April 14, 1958, he and one of his rivals shot the investigator Diar, who had said “no one dares to stand in front of me and shoot.”

Translated from: Mixani tou Xronou