The police said on Friday they had arrested a tenth person in connection with the attempted eviction of a group of third-country nationals from a block of flats in the Larnaca suburb of Oroklini on Saturday, which turned violent and ended with a 27-year-old man requiring a craniectomy.

An eleventh person is still at large.

Among those arrested is the building’s 35-year-old manager. He remains in custody, having been remanded for eight days in court on Sunday.

The 27-year-old who required a craniectomy, a type of brain surgery where a part of one’s skull is removed by a surgeon to relieve pressure, remains in a critical condition.

On Monday, Oroklini deputy mayor Neophytos Fakontis said the block of flats had been an issue for a while, adding that local authorities have been “sounding the alarm since 2017 about the unacceptable situation” in the building.

According to newspaper Politis, he said the building’s inhabitants, who are primarily of African origin, were living “in miserable conditions, without water and electricity, amidst piles of garbage and filth”.

The building’s mains water supply had been cut off eight years ago due to accumulated debts.

He added that the site had been sold to a private company last year with the aim of developing it, and that around a month ago, the company had informed the local authorities that the building was to be evacuated so that construction work could begin.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, the 35-year-old went to the building in an attempt to evict 15 third-country nationals who were living in the building after having obtained an eviction order, during which it turned violent.

Police were then called in with tear gas then being deployed against the third-country nationals, who had allegedly attacked the police.