Excavators returned overnight on Thursday to excavate pits for the burial of culled animals in close proximity to residential homes, Kokkinotrimithia community leader Christakis Meleties told the Cyprus Mail on Friday.

“They came back overnight around ten or eleven and continued with excavations for the dead animals, but we resisted,” he said.

The excavations had initially begun in the afternoon of Thursday but were paused after residents protested

According to Meleties, the excavations took place at a 150 metre distance from residential buildings and pose a threat to the health and the water supply in the area.

“It’s at the beginning of the village and it will affect our boreholes,” he said.

As of Friday, no further attempts to proceed with the excavations were reported.

The excavations are the result of ongoing culling measures amid the outbreak of foot and mouth disease on the island, which has led to the killing of thousands of animals so far.

Meanwhile, burial sites for animals culled amid the current foot and mouth (FMD) outbreak are left open with wildlife feeding on the carcasses, a local farmer in Athienou told Alpha television on Friday.

The farmer said he saw many crows and foxes at the areas where hold have been dug for the carcasses which were feeding on the animals, as the pits were left open.

He said that when he asked the operator of the machine that digs the pits why they weren’t covered, the operator said that this was intentional.

“Leave them out, let them get some air, so the pit can hold more, and they’ll decay so we can fit more in,” the operator allegedly said.