'Pure Hell'- Worst Fire to Burn Cyprus in Decades Kills 4, Destroys 50 Homes

After water bombing by Greek and Israeli planes, authorities in Cyprus claimed a devastating forest fire, the biggest to hit the island in decades, was close to being brought under control.

Cyprus Fire — Photo by IAKOVOS HATZISTAVROU/AFP via Getty Images

How the Fire Started

The fire broke out on Saturday afternoon, fueled by high winds, and spread through the southern slopes of the Troodos mountain range as the country battled a scorching heat wave.

Fatalities

Four Egyptian laborers were killed in the fire, which also burned 50 homes, damaged crops and electricity lines, and caused the evacuation of ten communities.

"Everything was a nightmare and absolute misery here; the community was completely engulfed in flames," said Akis Giorgiou, 45, of Arakapas.

The ministry claimed a "decrease of [fire] breakouts" by late Sunday afternoon, citing "effective water drops by Greek and Israeli planes."

The Egyptian authorities claimed the four killed Egyptian farm laborers, and Nicosia promised to "stand by the victims' families... giving every help."

Greatest Fire in Decades

On Twitter, President Nicos Anastasiades described the fire as "the greatest fire since 1974," the year the island was split when Turkey captured its northern portion.

Forest and agriculture covering more than 50 square kilometers (20 square miles) have been devastated. The tourist island's iconic thick gnarled trunks of old olive trees were reduced to burning stubs.

The remains of the four Egyptians were discovered outside the hamlet of Odos in the Larnaca area, according to Interior Minister Nicos Nouris.

The four victims were recovered 600 meters distant from their burnt-out car at the bottom of a ravine. According to a police officer on the site, they seemed to have escaped the car on foot but raced in the direction of the wind-fanned flames in a futile attempt to flee.

Grey ash replaced yellowed scrub as far as the eye could reach in non-forested regions where the fire had been controlled.

Possible Suspect

On suspicion of starting the fire, a 67-year-old farmer was detained and held in jail, which he disputed. He might face accusations of recklessly causing the four fatalities, according to police, because a witness saw him leaving the village of Arakapas in his car at the same time the fire erupted there.

Containing the Fire

On Sunday morning, Anastasiades paid a visit to a crisis management center in Vavatsinia, a few kilometers east of the fire, according to the CNA news agency. The fire looked mostly confined, but the Greek-Cypriot leader warned that it may flare up again.

As heavy grey smoke covered the sky, firefighters were spotted along the road heading to Vavatsinia while numerous helicopters hovered above the fire. Several burned-out homes were reported by an AFP journalist in Ora village.

The European Commission's crisis management commissioner, Janez Lenari, said that the EU's "aerial firefighting capability" had been activated on Saturday, with Italy and Greece deploying planes to assist.

A C-130 Hercules and two "air tractor" firefighting planes were dispatched by Israel. In addition, two search and rescue helicopters were dispatched by the United Kingdom, which has military stations in Cyprus.

Later, a government spokesman claimed the situation was on the verge of being brought under control.

"The affected communities have been examined by the fire and forestry services, and they are now considered safe," said spokesperson Niovi Parisinou.

"The work will continue because complacency will not be tolerated until all fires have been completely extinguished," she added, adding that power was gradually restored.

"People have already been given instructions to return to their houses where they are judged safe."

She said that teams will be dispatched right away to begin inspecting and registering damaged homes and goods for compensation.