Plane crash leaves Australian 2-year-old alone in world

Demos and Margarita and their son George.

The world of two-year-old George Xiourouppa disintegrated at noon on Sunday, when Helios Airways' Flight 522 slammed into a Greek mountain north of Athens, killing all on board.

Among the dead were George's Australian father Demos, 39, his Cypriot mother Margarita, 34, and sisters Sophia, 10, and Joanna, 9.

George had been left with relatives while the family flew to Greece for a holiday reluctantly agreed after the urgings of Sophia and Joanna.

"Tragically, three Australian citizens [Demos Xiourouppa and his two daughters] have now been confirmed dead in the Cypriot airlines tragedy," Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters yesterday, announcing consular aid for their relatives.

"It's a very tragic situation that a family could be destroyed in this way."

The Helios Airways' Boeing 737 crashed after the crew apparently lost consciousness, leaving the aircraft to fly unpiloted for possibly 90 minutes, and despite a desperate last-minute bid by two unknown people to get the aircraft under control.

Reports said many of the dead were found frozen.

The Xiourouppa family would not have been aboard the fateful flight had Demos had his way.

"He didn't like to go to Greece," Demos Xiourouppa's uncle Terry Karittevli told the Australian. "He liked to keep his family in Cyprus.

"His two little daughters, they asked him to take them to Greece for a holiday and he couldn't say no."

Demos Xiourouppa grew up in Adelaide, where he graduated from Flinders University.

He had returned to live in Cyprus in 1993, where he met Margarita and ran a wholesale electrical business.

"It is a big shock to all of us," a member of Sydney's Cypriot community, Ellie Stassi, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"He was only 39 years old.

"His father was very proud because one of his sons at least went back to the village [of Aradippou] and continued the family tradition."

Demos Xiourouppa's parents were on holiday in Cyprus and are now caring for George, and other Australian-based family members are flying across.

Downer said Canberra would provide consular assistance to the family if they wished to travel.

"A lot of their immediate family support lives in Cyprus, but there are some relatives in Australia and, obviously, we'll help them if they wish to go over, which I think they do."