Cyprus activated on Sunday the RescEU mechanism to battle wildfires ranging in Limassol district. Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis said in a tweet that at the instruction of President Nikos Christodoulides, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos is in contact with Israel, Lebanon, Egypt and Greece for assistance. The aim is to contain the fire the soonest possible, Letymbiotis added.
The Spokesperson says that the fire continues to rage, while extraordinary efforts are being made to bring it under control by ground and air means.
He further says that all Services, Forestry Department, Cyprus Fire Service, District Administrations, Civil Defence, National Guard have thrown themselves into the battle to reduce the fire and are making efforts to Container the fire.
In his post, he also says that on the instructions of the President of the Cyprus Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, the European mechanism RescEU has been requested to be activated for firefighting aircraft, while Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos is in contact with Israel, Lebanon, Egypt and Greece for assistance.
He also notes that the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Petros Xenophontos, and the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Anna Koukkides-Procopiou, are on site.
He also says that as a precautionary measure, communities were decided to be evacuated.
Andreas Kettis, a Cyprus Fire Service Spokesperson, said earlier that the villages of Apsiou and Mathikoloni were evacuated as a precautionary measure.
According to a post on twitter, Kettis said that the main front is located between the communities of Mathikoloni, Apsiou and Gerasa and that this is where the efforts are concentrated.
The fire broke out at noon on Sunday.
Source: Cyprus News Agency