Firefighters remained at the desalination plant in Timi on Sunday after a fire on Friday night destroyed its operation, while tests on the building are likely to be carried out on Monday, the Cyprus News Agency reported.

Fore safety reasons, police said, a detailed examination inside the building has been delayed to a later stage.

Assistant Paphos police chief Michalis Nikolaou said the decision was taken on Saturday after a meeting of the police, the fire service and other state services.

The scene will remain cordoned off under police guard,” he said.

The fire, which completely destroyed the unit, seems to have started from a storage area within the building where flammable materials such as filters, electrical cables and others are stored, and spread very quickly.

On Saturday, President Nikos Christodoulides said the government “will do everything possible” to ensure the continued supply of water to the Paphos district after the fire completely destroyed works at the plant.

Paphos district governor Charalambos Pittokopitis said the desalination plant had a total capacity of 15,000 cubic metres of water per day and served the needs of around a third of the town of Paphos as well as a “large part” of the wider district.