Two workers arrested for fire in Pentakomo

Police arrested two people to help 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, the arrests involved two men, aged 22 and 39. They men were arrested on Thursday evening following testimony that they were working with an electric tool in the area where the fire broke out at around 12.30pm.

Media sources reported 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 fire engines, 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.