Investigators are focusing on a possible electrical fault in the kitchen as the cause of a devastating fire that killed a family of five in Limassol early Saturday, authorities said.
Police, fire services, and electrical engineering officials are examining the second-floor apartment, which was completely destroyed in the blaze, a senior police official said.
“The fire appears to have started in the kitchen area”, Limassol CID spokesman Lefteris Kyriacou told reporters at the scene.
“Police patrols arrived shortly after 4:00 a.m. but were unable to approach due to the intensity of the flames”.
Investigators are examining whether the family became trapped because the apartment’s only escape route was through a common area with an internal staircase connecting the second floor to the level below.
Dense smoke filled the apartment within minutes, officials said.
The parents appear to have tried to reach their children in the bedrooms, a source told philenews.
The building was partly constructed with plasterboard, with only one external staircase and a small balcony at the front.
The bodies have been transferred to Nicosia General Hospital for post-mortem examinations.
The victims were a couple and their three children aged 7, 3, and 2.
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