Huge blast at Cyprus Naval Base

[good2bhappy]

8 dead
Breaking news
No link, saw it on Al-Jazeera

[spliff]

munitions dump caught fire and resplendently blew up....

[crippen]

A massive blast in a munitions dump at the Zygi naval base in Greek Cyprus has shaken the island, reports say.

A police spokesman told the state CNA news agency that two containers of gunpowder caught fire. In all, there were 98 containers in the depot.

The blasts, shortly before 0600 (0300 GMT) were the probable cause of widespread power cuts on the island, the spokesman said.

It is not yet known whether there were any casualties.

BBC News - Cyprus: Blast at Zygi naval base munitions dump

[harrybarracuda]

Munitions dump not terrorism apparently.

NICOSIA: At least eight people were killed in a massive explosion at a military base in southern Cyprus Monday, the semi-official Cyprus News Agency reported.
The agency quoted military sources as saying there were also scores of injured at the Evangelos Florakis base, between the coastal cities of Limassol and Larnaca.
It is believed the blasts occurred in a dump housing munitions which Cyprus had confiscated from a vessel heading to Syria from Iran in 2009.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Mid...#ixzz1RlyHB25z
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

[crippen]

Report: At least 10 killed in blast in southern Cyprus base
From Aliza Kassim, CNN
July 11, 2011 -- Updated 0532 GMT (1332 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
News agency: The blast reportedly results from munitions catching fire
It causes a power outage in the area
(CNN) -- At least 10 people were killed Monday in an explosion at a naval base in southern Cyprus, the Cyprus News Agency said.
The blast at the base at Zygi apparently resulted from munitions on a cargo ship catching fire, the news agency said.
The explosion resulted in a power outage in the surrounding area, the agency said.
Officials do not know what caused the fire that resulted in the blast.

Report: At least 10 killed in blast in southern Cyprus base - CNN.com

[CaptainNemo]

sounds more like a fuck up than anything else, too many nights on the razz...

[good2bhappy]

^ Yes
Thought it might be an attack
thanks for the link all

[harrybarracuda]

Just so you know where it is. Should knock the rents down for a few months.

[The Bold Rodney]

sounds more like a fuck up than anything else, too many nights on the razz...

Everyone knows gollies and explosives don't mix! (or at least they should do)

[Butterfly]

if it was a terrorist attack, it would be covered up, like it was in 2002 in NY suburbs

[harrybarracuda]

Breaking News: huge explosion at Evangelos Florakis naval base - At least 8 dead
By Patrick Dewhurst Published on July 11, 2011

A huge explosion at the Evangelos Florakis naval base near Mari has killed at least eight and knocked out the island's largest power station at Vassiliko.

National Guard Liutenant General Petros Tsalikidis said the blasts occurred in a dump housing munitions, which Cyprus had confiscated from the Monchegorsk vessel, which was heading to Syria from Iran in 2009.

Tsalikidis said: 'There was an explosion in containerized ammunition which were seized from a ship three years ago, and we are trying to manage the crisis.'

Cyprus Electricity Authority spolesman Costas Gavrielides described the incident as a "biblical disaster," while a Cyprus Mail reporter on the scene said car windows on the highway were smashed by the blast and the entire naval base area and Vassiliko power station area was shrouded in grey-black smoke.

"It looks like a bombed-out landscape," another witness told Sigma television.

Cyprus News Agency quoted military sources as saying there were also scores of injured at the Evangelos Florakis base, between the coastal cities of Limassol and Larnaca.

Bodies are reportedly being transferred to Nicosia.

"There are a number of dead which we cannot confirm yet," a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said.

No civilian fatalities have been reported, however Reuters reported the blast caused extensive damage to the neighbouring community, and shattered windows and doors of a restaurant in a popular tourist resort three kilometres away.

Injured blast victims are being moved to Limassol General Hospital, while Larnaca hospital is said to be on high alert.

The road between Mari and Governor's beach is closed as of 8.20am.

More follows later

[harrybarracuda]

A store of munitions, seized from a vessel heading to Syria from Iran in 2008 could be at the heart of the explosion which reportedly killed eight people this morning.A picture of large scale devastation is emerging after a massive blast in a munitions dump at the Zygi naval base.
Electricity remains off in much of Cyprus, and state TV are showing pictures of ambulances and army trucks ferrying in injured people to a local hospital, many of them covered in blood. Large scale damage can be seen to a huge section of the barriers of the Larnaca-Limassol highway and a huge crater about one kilometre from the power station was shown on state TV.
The blasts, which happened just after 6am, caused extensive damage to property in the area and sparked wildfires in nearby scrubland in the tinder-dry summer conditions, the television said.
A police spokesman told the state CNA that two containers of gunpowder caught fire. In all, there were 98 containers in the depot.
The Evangelos Florakis naval base near Mari is used for local marine operations and training.
The explosion happened in a section of storage area with containerized ammunition which were seized from a ship in 2008.
The blast was "rather like a sonic boom", eyewitness Hermes Solomon told the BBC. He was staying in a caravan on a campsite not far from the base.
"The doors crashed together, the glass blew in - windows, door frames, things left their shelves. It was a total mess inside, as though a bomb had hit the place."



Damage at the Power station

[harrybarracuda]

From the Beeb, death toll up to 12:

Twelve people have been killed and about 30 injured in a blast at a munitions dump in southern Cyprus.
The blast, at 0600 (0300 GMT), tore through the Evangelos Florakis naval base at Zygi, knocking out the island's largest power station nearby.
The munitions depot contained explosives seized in 2009 from a ship travelling from Iran to Syria.
There is no indication that the cause of the blast was deliberate, says the BBC's Tabitha Morgan in Nicosia
Two containers of explosive caught fire, a police spokesman told the semi-official CNA news agency.
There were 98 containers in the depot, seized from the ship, the Monchegorsk, which was intercepted travelling from Iran to Syria in January 2009.
Cyprus said the shipment violated UN sanctions on Iran.
The fire spread to the nearby Vassilikou power station, causing widespread electricity cuts. It is the largest power station on the island.
The fire has also had a knock-on effect on the BBC's broadcasts to the eastern Mediterranean. Six of the eight transmitters in the BBC's relay station at Zygi are without power, interrupting English-language broadcasts to the Middle East.
'Total mess'
The blast was "rather like a sonic boom", eyewitness Hermes Solomon told the BBC. He was staying in a caravan on a campsite not far from the base.
"The doors crashed together, the glass blew in - windows, door frames, things left their shelves. It was a total mess inside, as though a bomb had hit the place."
The explosives were being stored in a munitions dump near the base, she adds.
State television said the blasts caused extensive damage to property in the area and sparked wildfires in nearby scrubland in the tinder-dry summer conditions.

[Neo]

A store of munitions, seized from a vessel heading to Syria from Iran in 2008 could be at the heart of the explosion which reportedly killed eight people this morning.

Syria and Iran should be bombed immediately in retaliation for this terrorist outrage.

[harrybarracuda]

MARI, Cyprus -- A huge explosion sparked by a brush fire that set light to containers of gunpowder tore through a Cypriot National Guard naval base Monday, causing widespread damage and leading to extensive power cuts, the Defense Ministry said. At least 10 people were feared dead.
President Dimitris Christopfias, who rushed to the site, described the blast as "a catastrophe of biblical proportions". Opposition leader Nicos Anastasiades said all 98 containers, which held about 2,000 tons of gunpowder, had exploded.
The ministry said the explosion occurred at the Evangelos Florakis Naval Base on the Mediterranean island's southern coast at around 6 a.m. (0300GMT). State radio said the dead included two Cyprus navy sailors, two soldiers and five firefighters.
State broadcaster CyBC said 59 people had been injured, including two who were seriously hurt but whose lives were not in danger. There was no official death toll.
"We were devastated by this event, not so much by the material damage, but by the loss of human lives and the injury of many of our compatriots," said Christofias.
Hours after the blast, white smoke continued to billow from inside the base as a police helicopter flew overhead. Dozens of personnel from rescue crews, police, the fire department and the national guard were at the site.
A Defense Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was not complete, said the blast appeared to have been caused by a brush fire that broke out nearby and spread to the base.
The fire ignited gunpowder stored in containers that Cypriot authorities confiscated in February 2009 from a ship sailing off its coast. The ship, the Cypriot-flagged Monchegorsk, had been suspected of carrying the gunpowder from Iran to Gaza.
Fire department spokesman Leonidas Leonidou said firefighters received a call at 4:27 a.m. saying the blaze was inside the base and near the containers.
"Whether it started on or off the base, and how it started, we cannot say," he told the AP.
"This is a tragedy for Cyprus," said Andros Kyprianou, leader of the country's largest AKEL party. "It's not exaggeration to say this is a massive catastrophe. The physical damage will be repaired, but the lives lost ... nothing can bring them back."
The concussion wave from the blast severely damaged the island's main power station, leading to power cuts in several areas, including the southern town of Larnaca. Authorities appealed to the public to limit their electricity consumption, which has spiked amid a three-day heatwave that has led to temperatures of about 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
Airport authorities said both Paphos and Larnaca airports were reducing power consumption to the minimum possible and had turned on their generators.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Ministry also urged the public to reduce water consumption as much as possible because desalination plants had been taken offline due to power problems.
Cyprus Electricity Authority official Yiannis Tsouloftas said the power station would remain offline for at least the rest of the day. The island's two other smaller power stations were trying to cover electricity demand, Tsouloftas said.
"There are several parts of the island that are without power," Costas Gavrilidis, a spokesman for state power utility AHK, told state-run CyBC television.
CyBC footage showed numerous damaged cars stopped along a stretch of highway near the base. One person who was in a car passing the base at the time of the explosion told CyBC that it felt like "a bomb had been dropped on the car."
The broadcaster said the explosion also caused extensive damage to homes in villages near the naval base.
"I was driving to work and it was like a lightning bolt. It damaged the car and there was smashed glass and debris everywhere," Antonis Savvas, who received hospital treatment after the blast, told the TV station. "It was raining dust and debris - I don't know how else to describe it. Thank God nobody in the car was hurt badly, the only thing that happened was this," he said nodding toward his injured arm in a sling.
Greek Defense Minister Panos Beglitis said Greece stood ready to provide any help that might be needed.

Read more: Gunpowder explodes at Cyprus base, some 10 dead - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

[OhOh]

Mossad