Former ministers charged over deadly blast

 

TWO former ministers have been charged in connection with a deadly blast last year that killed 13 people, reports said.

Former foreign minister Markos Kyprianou and his defence counterpart Costas Papacostas are among several charged for the July 11 blast at the Evangelos Florakis naval base at Mari.

It was not immediately known what charges the two men would face.

Chief of police Michalis Papageorgiou confirmed that some people had been charged but did not give any details.

The blast was caused by munitions stored in 98 containers, which had been left exposed to the elements for more than two years.

It also caused extensive damage to the neighbouring Vassilikos power station – the island’s largest – prompting rolling power cuts for around a month.

 

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.