Supermarket fire finally put out

A FIRE which devastated the Chris Cash & Carry in Paphos on Monday night, was finally extinguished in the early hours of yesterday, police said.

Some fire fighters remained in the area yesterday morning in case flames broke out again in the basement of the supermarket where the fire began at around 6pm on Monday evening.

The head of the national fire service, George Hadjigeorgiou, said yesterday they had begun an in-depth investigation into the cause of the fire, but it was still too early to speculate.

The fire devastated the basement of the supermarket, which was used as a storeroom. Hadjigeorgiou added that most of the damage caused to the upper two floors was a result of the thick smoke which filtered through the building. Police said it did not appear that the fire had been started maliciously.

The owner of the supermarket, Andreas Andreou, paid tribute to the fire brigade for its efforts in fighting the blaze. On Monday, one of his security chiefs had criticised fire fighters for allegedly taking 25 minutes to reach the scene.

Dozens of shoppers and employees were evacuated from the building after huge fire broke out.

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