A lightning-sparked fire in a storage room caused severe damage to an adjacent house in Avgorou, leaving a family of three temporarily displaced.

The family will be accommodated in a hotel for three days at the expense of Ayia Napa municipality.

“The fire affected both the outbuilding and the house, as the explosion shattered the windows of the house, allowing smoke to enter,” Avgorou deputy mayor Panayiotis Michailas said.

He said Ayia Napa mayor Christos Zanettos, civil defence personnel and a social worker were at the scene, while the municipality had undertaken to accommodate the family in a hotel for three days.

“Witness accounts suggest that the fire was caused by a lightning strike,” Michailas said.

He added that officials from the electrical and mechanical services department would carry out further inspections at the site as part of the investigation into the cause of the fire.