Palmas says ‘no active front’ in Kalo Chorio fire, police close Psevdas road

Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas said there is currently “no active front” in the fire which broke out at the firing range near the Larnaca district village of Kalo Chorio, while ordering an investigation into the circumstances surrounding how it started, while the police reopened the road linking Kalo Chorio and nearby Psevdas. “I must clarify that I have already ordered an investigation to establish the exact circumstances around which this specific situation developed. At the same time, I must say that those responsible have names and surnames, and the responsibility lies with the 70th engineers’ battalion,” he said. He added that with temperatures having reached 40 degrees Celsius in the area, and “with heavy weapons explosions prohibited during the summer months”, the battalion “proceeded” to conduct a live firing drill. “It will be investigated why they proceeded to let these missiles off with tragic results, fortunately without threatening human lives and destroying property,” he said. While he did declare that there is “no active front”, he said that he did not wish to “downplay the damage we have done to the surrounding areas”, and as such promised to “exhaust all the severity provided for such cases”. “Expect developments on this issue within days,” he said, before adding that the 70th engineers’ battalion should have consulted those higher than it in the chain of command before launching live weaponry. He also stressed that responsibility for the matter was not in any way his, saying that “no reasonable person would place any responsibility on the president or the defence minister regarding this issue”. “As far as the president is concerned, we must leave him completely out of this issue. If issues of political responsibility are raised, then I want you to know that I will take it on with all responsibility,” he said. He added that he is “not under any emotional stress”, but that “this should not imply that I am not angry”. The fire broke out at the firing range at around 12.30pm and spread in a north-westerly direction to the nearby village of Ayia Anna. Village leader Anastasis Georgiou told the Cyprus News Agency that despite this, the CY-Alert emergency alert message was only sent to villagers at 5.20pm, but that “we took the initiative ourselves”. “We rang the village bell and said the village was to be evacuated,” he said. He also said that missiles were exploded in the area last summer, and described the situation as “unacceptable”, before pointing his finger at both Palmas and President Nikos Christodoulides. “It is not possible for projectiles to explode at such temperatures. We have been put in danger too many times. It is happening again. The fire came to our village and we have the same problems,” he said. While the road between Kalo Chorio and Psevdas was closed, the police had earlier also urged the public to stay away from both villages and nearby Ayia Anna, “both for their own safety and so as to ensure the unhindered movement of firefighting forces”. Psevdas itself was evacuated shortly after 5pm.