Filenews 20 July 2021 - by Ioanna Mantziepa
A 67-year-old man is expected to be indicted today in connection with the deadly fire that broke out on Saturday, July 3rd, from his field in the village of Arakapas and resulted in the spread to another 8 communities, burning 55 square kilometres among them houses, businesses, premises, animals, farms and the horrible death four workers in the village of Odos in Larnaca province.
The investigators of the Limassol T.E.C. have completed the investigative work in connection with the case and are currently requesting from the court that the 67-year-old be brought to trial directly before the Criminal Court for the offences of setting fire to plantations and lighting a fire in the countryside. With regard to the interrogations and examinations of the Larnaca TD in relation to the deaths of the four Egyptians, these are yet to be completed.
It is noted that in the hands of the authorities there is important testimony from a citizen as well as audiovisual material, which records the point from which the fire broke out. This witness reported that at around 13:40 noon on Saturday, July 3, he was in the area where the fire occurred and recorded with his mobile video from the fire outbreak. The video captures the fire occurring right in front of the 67-year-old's field, just a few metres from his border, where reeds and wild vegetation were found.
Investigators in the case have in their hands witness statements against the 67-year-old about his whereabouts before and after the fire broke out, and more than 100 statements have been taken.
The 67-year-old gave four depositions where an interviewer denies involvement. He claimed the scorching found in his field was five months ago. It is recalled that an interviewer claimed that he called himself from his cell phone on 112 and mentioned that there was a fire at 13:52, even saying that at that time it had broken out. The allegations are, however, contradicted by the testimonies.
