Four Deaths in Cyprus Forest Fires
Four people have been found dead in a massive fire raging for the second consecutive day in Cyprus.
Four charred bodies, thought to be Egyptian nationals, were found on Sunday in the Larnaca region of Cyprus, where a huge forest fire was burning for the second day in a row, Interior Minister Nikos Norris said.
Norris told reporters, "Forensic investigators went to the site to determine the identities of the dead, saying that "all indications point to it being the four persons who were missing since yesterday."
⭕️🇨🇾#Cyprus ;Huge Fire in Arakapas village.
— 🅻-🆃🅴🅰🅼 (@L_Team10) July 3, 2021
👉Houses in danger and the village is evacuated
(Video KitasWeather) pic.twitter.com/Y0Zbu3IAog
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades described the forest fires burning in Cyprus as a "tragedy", considering it the worst that the Mediterranean island has witnessed in decades.
He said it was "the largest fire since 1974", which witnessed the division of the island after Turkey occupied its northern third, adding that the fire led to "deaths", also destroying property and forests.
Anastasiades indicated that "the government will provide immediate aid to the victims and their families."
The fire, which was fanned by strong winds, affected at least ten communities on an area of 50 square kilometers in the foothills of the Troodos Mountains, which is a pine forestland and one of the highest peaks in Cyprus.