A team of firefighters and rescuers from Cyprus is getting ready to leave for Greece to help the Greek authorities deal with the deadly forest fires raging in the country, which so far have killed at least 24 persons and injured more than 150.

Cyprus will send a team of 60 firefighters and 4 rescuers and nurses aboard a Hellenic Air Force C130.

The aircraft arrived early this morning at the old Larnaka airport and preparations are earnestly underway to enable the team to depart as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, President Nicos Anastasiades held a telephone conversation yesterday with President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos during which he expressed his full sympathy towards Greece and the Greek people.

A press release issued by the Presidency in Greece, says that President Anastasiades told the Greek President that the competent authorities of Cyprus have provided the respective services of Greece with fire-fighting equipment and human resources to deal with the situation.

The Greek President warmly thanked President Anastasiades and stressed that this demonstrates the long-lasting solidarity between the peoples of Greece and Cyprus.

The flight programme at the international airport of Larnaka was affected yesterday. Three departures and three arrivals to and from the airport of Larnaka to the airport of Athens were delayed by 2-3 hours. The flight programme has now been restored.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus has announced the emergency telephone numbers of the Embassy of Cyprus in Athens
0030-6953009291 and 0030-6995621288.