12 people dead and 62 injured
Cyprus’defense minister and national guard chief on Monday resigned after a massive explosion that flattened out a naval base and a power generating plant on the island, leaving at least 12 people dead and 62 injured.
“Defense Minister Costas Papacostas and National Guard Chief Petros Tsalikidis assumed responsibility for this tragic event and have submitted their resignation,” said Stefanos Stefanou, the government spokesman.
Their resignations have been accepted by President Demetris Christofias,the spokesman told press after an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers.
Stefanou confirmed death toll of the massive explosion stood at 12, while 62 people have been hospitalized, two of them in critical condition. Military sources had earlier said that the death toll could be as high as 40. Among the dead are five fire fighters and seven officers and servicemen at the base. A three-day public mourning has been declared for the dead.
The fire fighters had been called in the area to douse a bush fire which had broken out in the base some two hours before the explosion occurred at 5:50 a.m. local time (0250 GMT).
Outgoing National Guard Chief Petros Tsalikidis had said that there had been explosions in two out of 98 containers packed with dynamite and military munitions.
However, the head of a defence parliamentary committee, Yiannakis Omirou, who visited the blast scene, said all 98 containers had gone up in the explosion, a fact which explains the extent of the damage.
The explosion was heard up to 40 kilometers away. The force of the explosion opened a 50-meter wide crater and flattened out installations at the naval base and the island’s main power generating plant.
Residents within up to two kilometers from the blast said several roofs were ripped off, some buildings collapsed and window panes were smashed.
An eye-witness in Mari, a village near the base, told Xinhua the blast generated a mushroom which covered the entire area of the base several square kilometers wide.
“I thought it was a nuclear explosion. I was so afraid I run away,” he said.
The blast wrecked power generating equipment beyond repair at the largest of the island’s three power stations on the other side of a hill from the naval base. Several fuel tanks were flattened by the blast wave and a big fire broke out within the power station, which was put out four hours later.
The spokesman confirmed electricity producing installations suffered severe damage and expected the station to be out of commission for a long time.
More than 60 percent of the country, including many parts of capital Nicosia, are out of electricity due to the failure of the power station.
This would leave the island entirely dependent on two smaller and older power stations, with the prospect of power cuts during the coming summer months, when demand for air-conditioning power is at its highest.
Source: China Daily
