Elderly man dies while swimming in Ormidhia

An elderly man lost his life on Thursday apparently while swimming in Ormidhia, in the Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia.

The deceased was identified as Antonis Vonditsianos, 80, from Ormidhia.

At around 1pm his dead body was spotted floating on the waves. A passerby alerted authorities.

A search-and-rescue helicopter of the British bases was dispatched to the area, and around 2.45pm they recovered the body from the sea.

The deceased was taken to Nicosia general hospital.

Police are not ruling out any possibility over the cause of death until an autopsy is conducted.

A medical examiner is expected to fly in from Greece.

According to the police, Vonditsianos was a resident of Canada and was currently on holiday in Cyprus with his wife.

He was due to depart Cyprus on Friday.

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