Firefighters who went to Greece return

The Cypriot forestry department team deployed to Greece to help fight the raging fires returned to the island on Tuesday.

The crew was welcomed at Larnaca airport by dignitaries including forestry department director Charalambos Alexandrou.

Two aircraft of the Air Tractor type, with a four-member crew and seven-person ground staff for support had been part of the team sent to Greece, under orders from President Nikos Christodoulides, via the EU civil protection mechanism rescEU.

They had been in Greece for 10 days and participated in fire-fighting operations and patrols in Lake Yliki in Boeotia, in Oinoi, and in Dervenochoria.

Forestry department spokesman Giorgos Constantinou said the team would be welcomed by the chief, as well as senior officials from the agriculture department.

The team was expected to arrive on two flights at around 1pm and 3pm.

Senior forestry official Stavros Mouhlis said the experience had been a major learning curve. The aircraft will be inspected after arriving at the Paphos base, and will then be deployed to Larnaca for the official welcoming event.

Meanwhile four Royal Jordanian Air Force helicopters that took part in the firefighting operations in Greece were hosted at the Andreas Papandreou air base in Paphos, as a stopover for refuelling and a short rest for their crews on Sunday.