Migrant dies following balcony jump during immigration raid

One of the three men who jumped from a third-floor balcony during an immigration raid in Larnaca has succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday night.

The man, whose details remain unknown, had suffered a serious head injury and was later intubated at Larnaca general hospital, where he passed away shortly before 10pm.

He jumped from a balcony on the third floor of the Filanta apartment complex near the old port in Larnaca and fell to the street as police and immigration officers were conducting inspections targeting suspected illegal immigrants.

According to police, the other two men, reportedly aged 28 and 38 years and from Congo, fell from the fourth-floor balcony and landed on the apartment building’s balcony below, suffering minor injuries.

The immigration service announced that during the raid some 22 illegal residents in various domiciles have been apprehended.

The Filanta apartment complex has previously drawn the attention of local authorities, with reports indicating that the buildings had also been examined by the Larnaca district local government organisation (EOA) due to the fact they were considered potentially dangerous structures.

A similar incident occurred in Limassol in 2024, when a 24-year-old Bangladeshi national Anisur Rahman died after jumping out of a fifth-floor apartment to escape a police raid on illegal immigration.

The man had attempted to escape from the apartment’s window after the police entered the apartment where he was residing.

In the same incident, another one of 11 men Rahmen shared the apartment with jumped from a balcony and fell 7.5 metres down to the balcony of a neighbouring flat. He survived the fall but was treated in serious condition at the Limassol general hospital.

Ombudswoman Maria Stylianou Lottides later initiated an investigation into the death of the 24-year-old.

The investigation aimed to establish whether the police had followed relevant procedures and whether any human right violations occurred but was later put on hold for publicly unknown reasons.