A GRIEVING mother has set out on a 5,000-mile quest to uncover the truth behind her son’s death while riding a quad bike. The mother says she needs answers after her son Andres, 28, was killed while on holiday in Paphos, Cyprus.
She returned to the island this week for a coroner’s inquest this week, worried that there are discrepancies between police reports and accounts from eye-witnesses who she tracked down and interviewed herself.
The 51-year-old now wants the Cypriot government to intervene and review all the evidence.
Alba Arbelaez says it has fallen on her to do the detective work
Ms Arbelaez does not claim the incident was anything other than a tragic accident, but wants authorities to tighten up laws over hiring quad bikes, traffic safety and improve response times for emergency vehicles.
Andres grew up in the Gray’s Inn Road area and went to school at St Aloysius secondary school in Highgate. He was working as scaffolder when he died last July.
Reports in Cyprus say Andres had been asked to swap a hire car for a quadbike
On the seventh day of his holiday, Ms Arbelaez says he was asked by a hire firm if he would swap the car he had leased for a quad bike, as there was a family looking for a larger vehicle. He agreed but later he was involved in a collision in Chlorakas, an area of Paphos popular with British holidaymakers. Police say he hit a car and was not wearing a helmet, but Mrs Arbelaez tracked down eye witnesses and sourced CCTV footage from a restaurant overlooking the site and says this account is inaccurate.
Ms Arbelaez told the New Journal: “I cannot bring my son back to life but I want to make sure the investigation is conducted professionally. I do not have the confidence this has happened. The police report does not tally with what we have been told.
“I met people who tried to save his life. I found the driver who hit my son with his car, and a taxi driver who saw it. They all said he was wearing a helmet. They also told me the police took half an hour to arrive, and the ambulance did not come for 35 minutes.”
Andres playing football as a teenager; he went to St Aloysius in Highgate
Mrs Arbelaez’s search for answers has been supported by Andres’s large network of friends, who have organised a fund-raising football tournament in the keen Arsenal supporter’s memory.
She added: “I have been overwhelmed by the love and respect his friends have shown since he died. More than 600 people came to his funeral and there has been a knock on my door on a daily basis since he has gone. Without them, and my faith, I would not be able to stand.”
The London-based Consul General for Cyprus confirmed a police report was being handed to British authorities via Interpol and a doctor’s report showing the medical aid Andres received was also due to be sent for review.
A spokesman for the Cypriot Consul-General said: “We have no reason to hide or delay anything. We agree with Mrs Arbelaez that hire firms with these types of vehicles should look at how they inform tourists of the traffic laws and conditions on Cypriot roads.”
He added “It is a safe country in terms of roads. An EU report released this week gave Cyprus a rating of four out of five.”
A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed embassy staff were providing Mrs Arbelaez with support with liaising with authorities on her behalf.
EXCLUSIVE by DAN CARRIER
Camden Journal