Ayia Napa pub fire was arson (Updated)

An early-morning fire at an Ayia Napa pub was set deliberately, a police spokesman told the Cyprus News Agency on Wednesday citing the results of an investigation by the fire service and police.

Famagusta district police spokesman Steve Theodoulou said that early Wednesday morning, the Ayia Napa police station received a call that there was a fire at the entrance of a pub on Ayia Mavris Street. Locals were able to extinguish the fire before it spread to the whole building.

Theodoulou said the scene was cordoned off and preliminary examinations indicated the fire was set maliciously. The scene was examined again by Famagusta CID and the fire service on Wednesday morning and it was established that the fire had been set deliberately with the use of flammable materials.

Evidence was collected from the scene for further tests. The motives for the arson are currently unknown, he said adding that police are continuing their investigation and looking at CCTV footage of the area.