Body found floating off Nissi Beach

A MAN whose decomposing body was found floating face-down in the water off Nissi Beach in Ayia Napa has been named as Peter Brecka, 30, from Slovakia.

The discovery was made at 6.30am yesterday with police quickly blocking off the popular beach entrance for several hours as investigators checked the scene.

According to the victim’s brother, who discovered the body, the deceased man had a history of heavy drinking and also suffered from epilepsy.

Yiannos Kapnoulas from Famagusta CID told the Cyprus Mail that the deceased man had been living in Cyprus since 2005.

“He arrived in Cyprus three and a half years ago and was working as a builder, but gave up work a few months ago probably because of his big drinking problem,” he said

The corpse had been floating in the sea for about five days and was in the advanced stages of decomposition.

It is understood that the deceased man fled his bother’s apartment three weeks ago after being warned to cut back on his heavy drinking and had since been sleeping rough in fields near Nissi Beach.

“We know he was angry after being told to stop the drinking and he left his brother’s flat; since then he was actually homeless. He was living near the fields in an area where some other people also sleep rough,” Kapnoulas added.

Authorities are ruling out foul play.

The exact causes of death will be determined later today at an autopsy to be conducted at Larnaca General Hospital.

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.