Arsonists torch Paphos hotel

ARSONISTS have been blamed for several fires that broke out at the same time yesterday afternoon in various parts of an empty Paphos hotel.

The Paphos Fire Department received a call yesterday afternoon that smoke was billowing out of the Paphiana Hotel, a two-storey hotel in Yeroskipou that has been out of operation for two years.

Fire Department Spokeswoman Lisa Kemibji told the Cyprus Mail that at 5.45pm the Paphos fire department began fighting the fire in one of the apartments. Once they extinguished the fire they saw that smoke was streaming from the window of another apartment.

Due to the magnitude of the fire, the firemen had to wear breathing apparatus. “There was lots of smoke and fire.” Kemibji said, “and there were things burning that were possibly toxic.”

The fact that some broken glass was located near the burnt apartments and the fact that the fires were started at several different points were a clear indication of arson.
“The apartments that were burning were not next to each other,” Kimibji said. “So there was no way that the fire spread from one apartment to the other.”

The firemen put out all the fires by 7pm. Four rooms had been destroyed, and the damage had spread into other parts of the hotel.

Paphos police said that the fire started from three or four different places, suggesting it was an arson attack. The police noted that it would not have been difficult to break in since the building was in disrepair and many of the doors did not close well.

It is believed that the fire may have been caused by youths, as youngsters have been known to break into the abandoned hotel on several instances. Complete investigations into the causes behind the fire will begin this morning.

State radio reported that the hotel had not been permanently closed. It was not clear when it had been planning to reopen.

Arson attacks are almost a nightly phenomenon on the island, mainly used as a way of warning off rivals. But targets are usually cars, and police will be worried at the fire started in broad daylight in a large building.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.