Two workers arrested for fire in Pentakomo

Police arrested two people to facilitate investigations into the fire which broke out at noon on Thursday in a rural area, near the villages of Monagrouli and Pentakomo in Limassol.

According to police statement, the arrests involved two men, aged 22 and 39 years old. The men were arrested on Thursday, following testimony that they were working with an electric tool in the area where the fire broke out around 12:30 pm.

Media sources report that at least ten houses were in danger of burning down and civil defence forces evacuated residents from 15 homes.

Investigations carried out after the fire was extinguished, pointed to the source as located next to the place where the two arrested men were working, and they are facing charges of negligence.

It appears the men were at a prefab structure, cutting skirting boards with the use of emery. A spark was enough to start the fire which immediately spread a great distance due to strong winds.

The fire burned 15 hectares of wild shrublands and damaged the fences of houses that were evacuated, along with the village primary school.

Seven tankers, four belonging to the forestry department, and a mobile unit from the Limassol fire service, as well as two aircraft, worked to extinguish the blaze.

The Moni police station is collaborating with Limassol CID to further investigations.