Large fire at Russian cultural centre, Russia cites foul play (update 4, video)

A large fire at the Russian cultural centre in Nicosia was the result of foul play, a Russian official said on Wednesday.

The blaze has been extinguished, the fire service said  as eyewitnesses reported a loud bang ahead of the blaze that engulfed the building.

Firefighters and police are still at the scene to ensure there are no further outbreaks.

Police have begun questioning people in the area.

The fire broke out around 1:45pm, with eyewitnesses telling the Cyprus Mail a large plume of smoke was visible as flames seemed to engulf the outside of the building.

According to the fire service, after the call was received around seven trucks went to the area to put out the blaze.

After the blaze was extinguished, the fire service said they trying to determine at which point it started, but that it was still too early to tell.

Police cordoned off the area and bystanders and those who had left nearby locations were pushed back.

“The heat is unbearable,” one bystander said.

Fire service spokesman Andreas Kettis said the cultural centre is currently being renovated.

“The fire is on the inside and outside of the building. There are attempts being made to extinguish [the blaze] by firefighters, and investigations conducted to see if there are people in the building,” he added.

From the fire, several electric cables were also cut.

The Russian ambassador also arrived at the scene of the blaze.

Speaking after the fire was extinguished, Kettis said that firefighters entered the building from the roof to extinguish the flames inside the building.

He added that oxygen tanks being used for the renovations were removed from the building, and that the fire services and police will conduct joint investigations to determine the cause of the fire.

Head of Nicosia fire services Charalambos Tylliros told the Cyprus News Agency the fire was difficult to put out.

“We needed to coordinate to extinguish [the fire], and to remove people from the building that were inside. Luckily both happened swiftly and securely,” he said.

The contractor in charge of renovations, Mr Eleftheriades said that he heard the doors shaking and when he looked outside saw a fire.

He added that the fire spread quickly, and that the area being renovated is the theatre, whose old chairs that were outside and caught fire as well.

According to Reuters, Russian News Agency TASS reported that Yevgeny Primakov, head of Rossotrudnichestvo, the Russian government’s cultural promotion agency, said foul play was clearly responsible.

“We qualify this as a terrorist attack since it is an attack on a civilian, peaceful building, clearly with the aim of not only causing damage, but also intimidating both our employees and the people who come to this cultural centre,” it cited him as telling the Russia-24 TV channel.