F-4 co-pilot laid to rest in Tripoli

The funeral was held in the southern town of Tripoli on Thursday of a Hellenic Air Force officer aboard the F-4E Phantom II jet that crashed in the Ionian Sea on Monday. The plane went down during a training exercise, and the body of the co-pilot, Lieutenant Marios Touroutsikas, 29, was discovered shortly after. On Wednesday, Air Force rescuers recovered the body of the second airman, Efstathios Tsitlakidis. Touroutsikas’ funeral service – attended by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras and the Armed Forces leadership – was held at Profitis Ilias Church and he was later laid to rest at Agios Ioannis Pikerniou. Captain Tsitlakidis’ funeral will be held Friday in Nevrokopi, northern Greece. [Kostas Kolintzouyiannakis/AMNA]