Parents of people killed in car accidents due to faulty airbags manufactured by Japanese company Takata decried the “cheap excuses” offered by current and former state officials called to testify at the committee formed to investigate the matter, with many having said they were unaware of the issue during their stints in office.

Yiannos Giorgallis, the father of Styliani Giorgalli, who was killed last October, spoke after the committee’s final meeting, and was scathing of some state officials.

“We heard a lot from various people, such as ‘I did not see’, ‘I did not hear’, ‘I did not know’, ‘my predecessor did not inform me’, ‘my successor did not inform me’. For me, these are cheap excuses. If some other element is found that we did not hear and the committee manages to substantiate it, that is another matter,” he said.

He added that he is “confident” that responsibility for the matter will be correctly attributed by the committee’s report, which is due to be published on July 12, saying “the commission is trying to do a full and proper job”.

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Meanwhile, Maria Loui, the mother of  Kyriakos Oxinos, who was killed in January 2023, said that she and others had “witnessed logic up against absurdity” at the committee’s meeting.

“We are talking about state officials whose terms of office are supposed to be for the protection of the public. I, not as Kyriakos’ mother who experienced and is still experiencing that pain, but as a simple member of the public, with everything that was stated at the committee, find that this state does not protect its people,” she said.

“We heard directors of departments, permanent secretaries of ministers, ministers, and high-ranking police officers tell us, ‘I knew that I knew nothing’.”

She added, “this is beyond me”, and said that she had been informed by an American journalist about an incident in 2017 which “should have been a wake-up call”.

“Not to mention the statements of the current [road transport department] director [George Louka], who since 2015 has been sending letters to people signed as the department director, but said he did not know,” she said.

She then referenced the crash involving Alexandros Lougos in 2017, wherein a faulty Takata airbag left him with life-altering injuries.

“If nothing else, the outcome of Alexandros’ accident should have meant further incidents would have been that further incidents would be avoided, not for me to lose Kyriakos, to have to shout on every television channel to make it known, and then for a family to lose Styliani 21 months later and have ministers say that they learnt about it in 2023,” she said.

She thanked the committee for “standing by” the families, and expressed her hope that the report’s findings will be a “catalyst”.

“From there, I hope the legal service will do its job,” she added.

She also pointed out that “the only apology we heard was from the committee’s chairman [Michael Vorkas]”.

“The apology should have come from other state officials, but even that would not satisfy us. It would not rid Alexandros of his injuries, nor would it bring Kyriakos and Styliani back. The most tragic thing is that thousands of cars with deadly Takata airbags are still on Cyprus’ roads. That scares me,” she said.

Takata airbags suffer a fault related to exposure to high levels of heat or humidity, which means they have a tendency to explode when released under such circumstances.

This explosion shoots the airbag’s metal inflator outwards and in the direction of the person it was designed to protect, potentially causing further injuries or, in some cases, death.

In February, Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades ordered the recall of more than 80,000 vehicles equipped with potentially deadly Takata airbags, with replacements to be completed by October. Of those, 276 vehicles were immediately immobilised and had their road tax and MOT certificates rescinded.

The committee was created in February to investigate the history of the matter, with previous hearings suggesting that the number of vehicles with unsafe airbags on Cyprus’ roads may have been as high as 90,000, while certain vehicles manufactured by American company Ford were also immobilised.

However, nine transport ministers, past and present, all stated that they were unaware of the problems caused by the airbags when they took office, with Vafeades telling the committee that he had first been made aware of the issue by Kyiakos Oxinos’ father Yiannis Oxinos during a meeting between the pair in April 2023.

Owners of recalled vehicles that were not immobilised are allowed to continue using them but must book an appointment with the manufacturer’s Cyprus-based distributor within eight months to have the airbags replaced. Their road tax and MOT remain valid.

While the transport ministry recommends that affected drivers avoid using their vehicles and seek alternative transport, compliance is not mandatory and no fines will be issued for continued use.

Motorists can check whether their vehicles have been subject to vehicles on the transport ministry’s website.