Driver hospitalized after police chase and crash in Limassol

Shortly before midnight on Thursday, a 19-year-old driver ignored a police signal to stop near the Germasogeia roundabout on the Limassol-Nicosia highway. Police had attempted to stop the driver after observing him using a mobile phone at the wheel. The driver fled the scene and subsequently drove against the flow of traffic at a nearby roundabout. He lost control of his vehicle, which mounted a roundabout, struck a road sign, traveled onto a pavement, and crashed into a garden fence, coming to rest on its side. Firefighters were required to extract the driver from the wreckage. A 17-year-old passenger was also in the vehicle at the time of the incident. Both occupants were transported to the hospital, where the passenger was treated and discharged, while the driver remains hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. A preliminary drug test administered to the 19-year-old returned a positive result. The Limassol traffic police are investigating the incident for reckless driving, failure to comply with police signals, drug-related offenses, and causing a road collision.