Two 14-year-olds have been arrested and four other teenagers are wanted after a group of minors stoned a fire engine and a police patrol car in Larnaca, having allegedly set rubbish bins alight to draw police to the scene.
Witness statements given to police indicate that the group started the fire deliberately so that a patrol car would be sent and they could throw stones at it, according to an official source.
The two 14-year-olds had been arrested by midday on Friday. Police are looking for three others of the same age and a 17-year-old, all identified from CCTV footage. Most of the group were 14.
The incident happened on 27 October outside the Timios Prodromos church in Larnaca. A fire engine was first sent to the area after a call about two burning rubbish bins, but drove off after the group began throwing stones at it.
Police officers then arrived in a patrol car, which was hit by a barrage of stones that shattered its windscreen and caused extensive damage. No officers were hurt.
The trade union Isotita condemned the attack, saying an assault on police officers carrying out their duties could not be treated as an ordinary case of damage to property. It described the incident as “an extremely dangerous and unacceptable act, which could have had a tragic outcome”.
