Nicosia - A massive explosion ripped through a military base in southern Cyprus, witnesses said on Monday, with the official news agency reporting at least eight people dead.
Police and army officials were not in a position to immediately confirm the report, and information was scant from the scene of the blast at the Evangelos Florakis navy base.
“There are a number of dead which we cannot confirm yet,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said.
It was unclear what triggered the explosion, which news reports said was in a munitions dump.
The military base had munitions in storage which Cyprus had confiscated from the Monchegorsk, a vessel sailing from Iran to Syria in 2009.
The intensity of the blast caused extensive damage to a neighbouring community, and in a popular resort 3 km from the site windows and doors of beachside restaurants were blown out.
“The place looks like it was hit by a massive bomb,” a Reuters witness said. - Reuters