A SHARK weighing 300kg and 4.5m in length was caught 30 nautical miles off the coast of Apostle Andreas in the north. The professional fisherman who captured this beast was Petros Kyprou from Soleas, a fisherman for 22 years, and his crew from the Queen Eleni fishing boat.
He took the shark to Larnaca harbour where it became the main event for many passers-by.
A beast as big as the one that got caught in Kyprou’s net is seen on an average of every five years although smaller sharks are fished out more often. Kyprou said the shark was caught in his net at a depth of 100 meters while he was hunting for swordfish. The fisherman added that swimmers are in no danger as a shark this big would never approach Cyprus coasts and would most definitely die in shallow waters.
Nicolaou to go north
OMBUDSWOMAN Iliana Nicolaou has announced that she will be visiting the occupied areas by the end of the year.
She made the announcement following a meeting with the House Finance Committee, where the 2006 budget of her office was discussed.
She told reporters that the decision to visit the Karpass area follows the receipt of several complaints from enclaved people in the occupied areas and she believes their general problems can be resolved.
She added that violations of their rights should be reported to an anti-racism body based in Vienna, which will in the next few years evolve into a human rights body which will answer to the EU.
All EU members cooperate with the Viennese body, as does Turkey, which is an observer.
Gas truck rolls over
A LORRY carrying 1500 litres of gas yesterday slid down a mountain hillside before crashing into a driveway and overturning.
Miraculously, nobody was injured when, according to police, the lorry’s 28-year-old driver had just parked the Petrolina tanker in Kakopetria at 3.15pm, before completing his delivery to the Kali Hotel.
For reasons which are still unclear, the tanker slid 35 metres down the hill before coming to rest after hitting the driveway.
It then started to leak gas, forcing the police and fire brigade to evacuate the area, due to fears that an explosion could follow.
Representatives from Petrolina arrived on the scene, where they were still transferring the gas to another tanker at 9pm.
The driver, a Greek living in Cyprus, was in shock after the incident, but insisted that he did engage the lorry’s handbrake.
