Cyprus wildfires under control on second day
Source: Financial Mirror
Firefighters seem to have brought the raging flames in Cyprus under control late Thursday, after several wildfires burnt more than 120 sq km of forest and farmland, threatening several villages.
Two people died, homes were destroyed and 14 villages near Limassol were evacuated in the worst fires in almost 50 years.
Police found two charred bodies in a burnt-out car. The Civil Defence force found one body inside the vehicle on Wednesday night and the remains of a second person were discovered in the same car on Thursday on the shoulder of the Monagri-Alassa road.
At least ten people were injured from the fires, and two were evacuated with extensive burns to the Nicosia General Hospital.
The fires started on Wednesday and continued to rage on Thursday, hampered by strong winds and high temperatures.
The meteorological service issued an orange alert for high temperatures, while Kitas Weather reported that Thursday was the third hottest day since 1983, reaching 44.7 celsius.
Additional wildfires broke out in the western Paphos district on Thursday afternoon. Many roads remained closed, and civilian rescues continued.
More than 250 firefighters were attempting to extinguish the flames, with aerial support coming from 18 aircraft. A firefighting plane arrived from Spain on Wednesday, supported by Chinook and other helicopters from the British Base at Akrotiri.
On Thursday, two Egyptian and two Jordanian helicopters also joined the effort, while Israel dispatched a pair of C-130 planes for night time water drops.
Some 26 firefighters also arrived from Greece on Thursday.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday that “the EU stands with Cyprus as it fights major wildfires. We have urgently mobilised support via our Civil Protection Mechanism. This summer, nearly 670 firefighters from 14 countries and a #rescEU fleet of 22 planes and four helicopters are deployed to countries in need.”
Although the government tried to play down speculation over the cause of the fire, Chief Fire Officer Nicos Logginos told public broadcaster CyBC that eye witnesses who called the fire service had reported arsonists had caused the fire to break out at two separate points, within 100 metres from each other, at a landfill. He added that he had provided evidence to the police in order to aid its investigation.
Government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis refuted claims that the government had been negligent in its response. However, criticism focused on the absence of a public warning system (PWS) through the universal emergency number 112.
The original article: belongs to Financial Mirror .
