Military shell explodes only metres from Ayia Anna home

A MILITARY shell exploded ten metres from a prefabricated house in Ayia Anna village yesterday causing damage to the holiday home after going off course during a National Guard exercise.

The shell veered off course during a National Guard exercise at the Kalo Chorio firing range at around 1.30pm, landing ten metres from the prefab house and exploding. The house sustained a fair amount of damage though no injuries were recorded, according to Cyprus News Agency (CNA).

According to police, the shell exploded 800 metres away from the village residential area. By sheer chance, the owners of the holiday home, who stay there every Wednesday afternoon and weekend, arrived an hour after the explosion. As such, injuries were avoided.

The Ayia Anna village council held an emergency meeting last night to discuss the incident. “The holiday home has sustained damage as a result of the shell’s explosion. The main issue for us is the safety of residents,” village leader Kyriacos Pasiourtides told CNA, noting that the explosion occurred close to the residential area and near a kindergarten.

The village council decided in the emergency meeting to send a letter to the Defence Minister today seeking a meeting to discuss how to deal with the issue, said Pasiourtides.

“Despite the assurances we received from time to time by both the Defence Ministry and the National Guard on safety measures taken, unfortunately the same situation continues. It is now a matter of residents’ safety,” he said.

The representative added: “Residents are frustrated with the whole issue and it is natural for them to ask for safety measures to protect them”.

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