Second firefighter dies in Cyprus blaze
The second of three firemen injured seriously when their ruck overturned into a gully on Monday during efforts to put out a large forest on Cyprus has died, Cypriot media reported on Tuesday morning.
Marios Aristotelous, 44, was on the same truck as 49-year-old Andreas Sophocleous when it overturned into a gully, crushing Sophocelous to death and seriously injuring the other two firefighters on the crew. Aristotelous died at Nicosia General Hospital on Monday night.
The third firefighter is still in critical condition, though he is described as stable.
A total of 16 aircraft, including four planes and helicopters from Greece and three fixed-wing aircraft from Israel, are helping fight the blaze – the most ever employed on a fire in Cyprus, according to Interior Minister Socrates Hasikos.
Police say a 12-year-old boy is suspected of starting the fire with a lighter near his family’s holiday home.
