Police on Wednesday were investigating murder, after two charred bodies were recovered from a burning vehicle in Limassol.

The car, with the two men, had been located on a dirt road between Pareklissia and Kelaki at a 50m distance from the main road, where fire fighters rushed around midnight to extinguish the blaze.

During a post-mortem examination, state pathologist Nicholas Charalambous determined that the two men were likely shot in the head before being placed into the vehicle.

Charalambous determined that both had died from severe skull fractures caused by a hunting rifle.

Further samples were taken from the bodies for examination.

The two men were found one in the front passenger seat and the other laying on the back seat.

Philenews reported that the vehicle was an Opel Astra saloon car and had been found in a difficult to access area.

Efforts are being made to recover the car’s serial number.

The fact that no missing persons had been reported to the police raises questions, philenews added.

“Ten minutes after midnight, the police were informed that there was a car fire in the area. The fire service immediately visited the place [..] and police and members of the CID and the Limassol [mobile technical support unit] visited the scene,” police chief Andreas Angelides said on Wednesday.

The discovery of the bodies immediately set off an investigation by CID into the circumstances of the incident, Angelides said.

The scene had been cordoned off while officers from CID headquarters and Limassol are scouring the area for evidence and furthering the investigation.