Charred body of 63-year-old found in plastics factory fire

Police on Monday are engaged in an effort to retrieve the charred remains of a 63-year-old man who died in a factory fire in Dromolaxia.

The body was found in a polyurethane manufacturing plant in Larnaca where a large fire broke out on Sunday.

According to the police, the man, identified only as Greek Cypriot, appears to have been carrying out electrical work and got trapped in the building.

Authorities are attempting to secure the stability of what is left of the structure and remove hazardous substances, so that officers can enter safely and recover the body.

Legal identification and an investigation into the exact circumstances and causes of the blaze will ensue.

A total of five people were known to be inside the factory when the fire broke out, and four had initially been accounted for. It is thus believed that the body found belonged to the fifth person.

Fire brigade spokesman Andreas Kettis had said on Sunday evening that the fire was fully under control, and that firefighters would remain at the scene throughout the night.

A total of eight fire engines had been deployed to the scene.

Fire chief Nikos Longinos said that due to the materials processed at the factory adjacent factories were threatened by the huge thermal load and firefighters had also tackled the risk of explosions by cooling oil and gas tanks in the viscinity.

The plant itself was completely destroyed.

The ministry of labour issued a decree forbidding entry into the plant and the minister of justice had also been informed, while officials from the electricity authority, the electromechanical service, and and Okypy ambulance had rushed to the spot.