A 43-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday morning in connection with a fire which broke out at a paper processing factory in the Limassol suburb of Ypsonas in the early hours of the morning.

According to news website Alpha, the man is a former employee of the factory.

The fire had broken out at around 2am, prompting fears that it may spread into nearby residential areas, with newspaper Phileleftheros reporting that two houses had been “affected” by the fire.

As such, local residents were evacuated, and the road connecting the motorway between Limassol and Paphos and the suburb was also closed as a precaution. The road was then reopened later in the day.

On Wednesday afternoon, fire brigade deputy spokesperson Koulla Mesaritou told the Cyprus Mail that the fire had been put out, but that firefighters remained at the scene to guard against any further flareups.

Earlier in the day, spokesman Andreas Kettis had said the fire brigade had “responded immediately” when the fire broke out.

“The firefighters made a great effort to contain the fire because the neighbouring homes were in immediate danger,” he said.

He said that an “enormous thermal load” had been developed, and that the fire had spread to gas bottles which were being stored in the area, “causing continuous explosions, with the gas bottles being thrown long distances”.

“The firefighters were really in danger,” he added.

He then said that the cause of the fire “remains unknown”, and that investigations will begin immediately.