Four dead in Cyprus forest fires Reuters

Nicosia (Reuters)-A fire raged in Cyprus for the second day in a row. Four people were found dead. The fire destroyed large areas of forest. An official said it was the worst fire ever.

Driven by strong winds, the fire affected at least 10 communities in an area of ​​50 square kilometers (19 square miles) at the foot of the Troodos Mountains, which is a pine forest and densely-vegetated shrubland.

Victims believed to be Egyptian nationals were found dead near the Odou community, which is located in a mountainous community north of the cities of Limassol and Larnaca.

Interior Minister Nicos Nuris said: “All signs indicate that these are four people who have been missing since yesterday.”

The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, stated that firefighting aircraft have taken off from Greece to extinguish the fire, and Italy also plans to deploy air firefighters.

The European Commission said in a statement that the European Union’s emergency Copernicus satellite has also been activated to provide damage assessment maps of affected areas.

“This is the worst forest fire in Cyprus’ history,” Charalambos Alexandrou, director of the Forestry Department, told Omega TV in Cyprus.

Efforts are being made to prevent the fire from crossing the mountains and to stop it before reaching Machalas, a pine forest land and one of the highest peaks in Cyprus.

The fire broke out around noon on Saturday, and the cause of the fire is unclear. Cyprus experiences high temperatures in the summer, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent days. The police said they were interrogating a 67-year-old man in connection with the fire.