The details coming to light about 29-year-old Dimitris Melas, the young soldier who died in the horrific car crash in Zacharo, are heartbreaking.
The unfortunate Dimitris, originally from Artiki in Messinia, was serving as an EPO in the 117th Combat Wing and resided in the dispersion of Kyllini. As was his custom, he had gone to his place of origin to see his family and loved ones. No one could have imagined that this visit would be his last.
This morning, the 29-year-old said goodbye to his people and headed off to his service. He left his home like any other time, bound for the 117th Fighter Wing. Only this time he never arrived.
On the way, in the area of Zacharo, the car he was driving crashed hard into the back of a parked truck under circumstances that are under investigation. The collision was so violent that the vehicle turned into a shapeless mass of iron.
Firefighters, police officers and rescuers rushed to the scene, but the 29-year-old did not make it. The battle to extricate him was dramatic, but Dimitris had already breathed his last on the tarmac.
The news of his death has plunged his family, Artiki Messinia, his colleagues in the 117th Fighter Wing and those who knew him into mourning. A young boy, a professional soldier, a man who set out to do his duty, was lost so suddenly and so unfairly.
The hardest part is that just hours before the fatality, he had been close to his family. He saw them, spoke to them, said goodbye and left. No one knew that that “goodbye” would be his last.
The Pyrgos Traffic Police are continuing their preliminary investigation into the exact cause of the crash.
But behind the wreckage of the car, there remains a heartbreaking story. 29-year-old Dimitris Melas set out from his home for his service and was lost on the road, leaving behind grief, silence and countless “whys.”
Source: Kostas Gelntis / patrisnews.gr
