Filenews 17 July 2025 - by Angelos Nicolaou
Criminal liabilities may arise not only for individuals but also for two companies operating in the Cypriot vehicle market, according to the conclusion of the Investigative Committee appointed to examine the case of Takata airbags. The report, which has been in the Crime Fighting Department since yesterday to study whether criminal offenses arise, brings to light serious omissions, possible offenses and a chain of responsibility that allegedly contributed to a series of accidents, including two fatal accidents and one serious injury.
The Commission investigated four cases of serious incidents in Cyprus, with the common denominator being the explosion of defective Takata airbags, which ejected metal fragments when activated.
January 24, 2023: 24-year-old Kyriakos Oxynos was killed when the airbag of his vehicle exploded, throwing metal objects into his chest.
October 21, 2024: 19-year-old Styliani Giorgalli lost her life under similar circumstances.
July 30, 2017: Alexander Lugu suffered serious injuries when the car's airbag exploded and injured him with fragments after a collision.
September 2010: A car airbag was opened for no reason.
Despite the fact that the accidents were due to an explosion of the airbags and not to the severity of the collision, the competent state agencies allegedly did not activate any mechanism to prevent or inform the public, according to the report.
The Investigative Committee refers to articles 205, 210 and 231 of the Criminal Code, which refer to the offences of homicide, causing death by a reckless or dangerous act, as well as grievous bodily harm. According to the Commission, the chain of omissions and negligence may constitute such offences for natural persons and companies which: (a) had or should have been aware of the risk of defective Takata airbags, (b) had a duty to take measures to prevent or reduce the risk, (c) failed to warn users or to take appropriate measures.
The causal link, according to the Commission, between the acts/omissions and the accidents, 'resulting in the loss of two young persons and the loss of a third connection'.
A company representing these cars in Cyprus, as well as the same European company, are involved in civil lawsuits related to the replacement or not of the defective airbags. In some cases, as recorded, vehicle owners were not informed or did not come for the planned recall. In another case, dealers had pledged to cover replacement costs, admitting that the problem was already known on a number of models.
The Investigative Committee criticises the attitude of the Department of Road Transport (TOM) and other government agencies, which, although aware of the worldwide recall of millions of vehicles due to dangerous airbags, did not take adequate measures to protect the public, limiting themselves to transmitting data to distributors.
As the Commission points out, criminal offences such as "homicide (Article 205 of the Criminal Code) and/or causing death due to a reckless, reckless or dangerous act (Article 210 of the Criminal Code) may have been committed, which relate to the fatal injury of K. Oxynos and St. Giorgallis, as well as the offence of causing serious bodily harm under Article 231 of the Criminal Code concerning A. Lougou".
As it already notes, the Commission, for obvious reasons, did not proceed to further develop the response in the form of a court decision. The Commission points out that under "the incidents surrounding the deaths of the two young persons and the serious injury of the third person, due to the explosion of the airbag of the vehicles they were driving, those (a) who were aware or should have been aware of the danger (Road Transport Department and Distributors of the Manufacturer) that the users of vehicles equipped with Takata airbags may be involved in the offences of Articles 205, 210 and 231 of the Criminal Code; and (b) who had a duty of action to take measures to reduce or prevent the risk and (c) omitted and/or neglected and/or neglected to fulfil the duty of action, warning those who were at risk and taking measures to reduce or prevent the risk".
Apart from the family tragedies...
The case took on public dimensions, especially after the tragic loss of K. Oxynos, when his family took initiatives and provoked the mobilization of the political system. On the contrary, in previous incidents such as that of A. Lougos, no publicity was given nor was there any reaction from the state.
According to the Commission, the circumstances in which the three accidents occurred are not in dispute. "Just as it is not disputed that the involvement of the three vehicles in the accidents in question was such that it did not justify the serious injury of the 19-year-old (then) A. Lougos and the fatal injury of K. Oxynos and St. Georgallis. The cause of the serious injury of A. Lugos and the fatal injury of the other two young persons - aged 24 and 19 respectively - was the ejection of metal fragments due to the explosion of the airbag of the vehicles they were driving.
