(24 Jul 2025)
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RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Souni, Cyprus – 24 July 2025
1. Various of people watching as thick smoke billows from a wildfire in Limassol district
2. Various of vehicles, including water tanks and fire service truck tackling the fires
3. Various of people looking at the wildfire
STORYLINE:
Aircraft from Jordan, Israel and Spain were on their way Thursday to help battle a huge wildfire in Cyprus that has claimed the lives of two people.
Police were investigating reports that arsonists were to blame.
The flames have scorched more than 120 square kilometers (46 square miles) of forested hillsides in what’s believed to be one of the worst such blazes in recent memory.
The fire, which appeared to have died down overnight, has again flared up along several fronts and that more than 250 firefighters, 75 engines and 14 aircraft were working to contain the flames, government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis said.
A combination of very strong winds, high temperatures and very arid conditions after three winters of minimal rainfall created a kind of perfect storm at the wildfire’s peak late Wednesday, Letymbiotis said.
The situation overwhelmed fire crews, which struggled to contain the flames in difficult, hilly terrain.
Police were still trying to identify the charred remains of two people who were found inside a burned-out car on the shoulder of the main Monagri-Alassa road.
Meanwhile, the Cyprus Red Cross and other organizations were offering help to dozens of people who lost homes.
The fire had forced on Wednesday the evacuation of at least 14 the villages as media reports showed gutted homes smoldering.
Police continued to block road access to the fire-afflicted communities as area residents vented against what they called a disorganized response to the huge fire.
Cyprus has been on high alert for fires this summer after three consecutive arid winters.
AP Video by Petros Karadjias
AP Production by Lefteris Pitarakis
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