Compensation is being paid out to people who lost their homes and livelihoods in the blaze that swept through mountainous Limassol last month, with 286 beneficiaries already receiving approximately €2 million in lump sums, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said on Wednesday.

In a post on X, Ioannou said state services were making every effort to complete the compensation process so that damage could be restored and people could return to normality the soonest possible.

The first group of victims had been called in on Tuesday to sign a responsible declaration of acceptance of the sum, so that they could receive the money over the next few days.

Despite the complexity of the process, efforts are being made to get the work done fast, the minister said.

He added that the procedure for assessing damage and data would continue over the coming days, prioritising permanent residences and those partially damaged, while categorising those homes that were completely destroyed in the fire so that the families receive immediate financial support.

“The interior ministry’s aim is to quickly wrap up the payment of financial aid to restore the damage, in cooperation with all involved departments, so that the people can return to their daily lives the soonest possible,” Ioannou said.

In the Limassol wildfire that started on July 23 and raged for three days, two elderly people were burned alive and hundreds of homes and businesses were lost.

According to the latest official figures, the fire burned an area of 124 square kilometres. Seventeen communities in mountainous Limassol were affected, of which 13 suffered severe losses.

In those communities, 706 buildings succumbed to the flames – 335 were completely destroyed and 371 partially. Among them were 532 homes, 109 warehouses, 29 business establishments and 36 other constructions.

Over 775 farms also suffered total or partial loss of livestock and cultivations.