The risks of Wednesday’s raid on illegal migrants were fully assessed but an element of unpredictability always remains, Larnaca police chief Ioannis Kapnoulas said on Thursday.

He was referring to the death of a foreign resident who jumped off a balcony in an apartment block during a police raid targeting illegal migration. He was rushed to Larnaca general hospital and intubated but died late on Wednesday from his injuries.

“All necessary measures are always taken, and the risk is assessed; however, there is always the element of the unpredictable. I don’t think anyone expects a person to suddenly decide to jump from the 4th or 5th floor, and I wonder how anyone could prevent such an act,” he said.

“The police do not enter apartments in order to avoid the worst-case scenario. However, every operation is evaluated afterward; we identify mistakes that led to failure and we identify best practices that led to success,” he said.

Kapnoulas reiterated that Wednesday’s raid was part of a routine operation carried out together with the aliens and immigration service.

“Usually the alien and migration services (YAM) operate in plain clothes. However, to minimise the risks, they also had uniformed police officers with them, who wore their badges around their necks,” he said.

He said that the operation had begun around 9am on Wednesday, with various premises and apartment buildings being checked and 19 people were arrested.

The police later in the day went to the Filanta apartment complex, located near the port, where the incident occurred.

“At the sight of the police and in order to avoid the check, three people jumped, according to our information, from the 4th or 5th floor and were taken to Larnaca general hospital,” he said.

He said that the Filanta apartment complex had previously attracted the attention of the local authorities due to several complaints and allegations by locals of the ghettoisation of foreigners.

There have also been reports indicating that the buildings had been examined by the Larnaca district local government organisation (EOA) due to the fact they were considered potentially dangerous structures.

“Last night I spoke with the president of the Larnaca EOA, Angelos Hadjicharalambous, who told me that this particular apartment building is in the evaluation stage [regarding evaluation of dangerous buildings],” Kapnoulas said.

He added that so far, the identity of the dead man could not be established despite “enormous efforts” in that direction, noting that further efforts are underway to identify the deceased.

“As of this morning, his details have not been verified and unfortunately, despite the fact that the arrested persons who lived in the same apartment building were also questioned to tell us whether they knew this specific person, this was not possible,” he said, adding that “after verifying his details, it will be easy to inform his relatives.”

The two other men involved in the incident reportedly suffered minor injuries and received treatment at the Larnaca general hospital.

A similar incident occurred in Limassol in 2024, when 24-year-old Bangladeshi national Anisur Rahman died after jumping out of a fifth-floor apartment to escape a police raid on illegal immigration.

He had attempted to escape from the apartment’s window after the police entered the apartment where he was residing.

In the same incident, another one of 11 men Rahmen shared the apartment with jumped from a balcony and fell 7.5 metres down to the balcony of a neighbouring flat. He survived the fall but was treated in serious condition at the Limassol general hospital.