Villages evacuated and homes destroyed in massive wildfire

• A massive wildfire in southern Cyprus has resulted in two fatalities and the evacuation of hundreds of people, destroying numerous homes and threatening a dozen villages.
• The blaze, which began on Wednesday, has razed at least 100 square kilometres of a wine-producing region north of Limassol, with several fronts remaining active.
• Two individuals were found dead in a burned-out vehicle, while ten others sustained injuries, two of them serious.
• Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides urged residents to evacuate, as over 250 firefighters and international air support from Spain, Jordan, and the RAF battled the flames amid strong winds and temperatures reaching 44C.
• Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire, which comes after three consecutive arid winters have left Cyprus on high alert for such incidents.

IN FULL

Two dead as Cyprus wildfire destroys homes and threatens a dozen villages