Lebanese Army sends helicopters to Limassol to help extinguish fires

BEIRUT — The Lebanese Army announced Friday that two military helicopters flew to the neighboring island of Cyprus to help extinguish fires that broke out Wednesday near Limassol (south), which have already left two dead. Early in the afternoon, Cypriot authorities announced the fires had been contained.

"Two helicopters from the Lebanese Air Force took off this morning from Beirut Air Base to take part in extinguishing the fires in Cyprus, at the initiative of the Lebanese authorities and in coordination between the army command and the Cypriot authorities," the Army said on its website.

At the beginning of July, Army helicopters had already taken part in putting out forest fires in the Latakia region on Syria's coastal area for nearly a week.

The forest fires on the outskirts of Limassol, Cyprus's second-largest city, have been fanned by strong winds and high temperatures. Cypriot police said two burned bodies were found inside a charred car engulfed by the fire that broke out Wednesday in parts of the southern coastal region of the island.

According to fire brigade spokesman Andreas Kettis, the fire, which started in the village of Malia in the hills above Limassol, destroyed 100 square kilometers. More than 250 firefighters, 75 vehicles, and helicopters are involved in operations to fight the blaze. The government had called on several countries to send planes to assist them.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun was in Cyprus at the start of the month and discussed with his counterpart Nikos Christodoulides the "means of strengthening cooperation between the two countries in various fields."