Medical files set on fire at a Larnaca school

Police are investigating a suspected arson at a Larnaca elementary school, where medical records of pupils appeared to have been set on fire.

According to local media, the fire department was notified Monday night around 10:10pm that a fire had started in one of the rooms of the administration building at Kamares Primary School.

The school, which made headlines last year following the abduction of two young pupils, did not have a fire alarm installed according to media, while reports said the area in question was used as a makeshift medical room.

When fire firefighters arrived at the scene to put out the fire, they reportedly found a bunch of medical files in a trashcan that had been set on fire.

Media sources said the medical files were records belonging to the young students of the school and it appeared that they had been set on fire on purpose.

A wooden closet was reportedly destroyed in the fire while any damage to student medical files was not immediately made known. Larnaca police are investigating the fire incident.

Abduction of two school boys

Last year, on September 25, two 11-year-old boys were kidnapped from the same school by 36-year-old Yiorgos “George” Nicolaou, who was sentenced to 16 years earlier this year.

Nicolaou was found guilty on abduction and narcotics charges in the kidnapping of two school boys. The abduction took place in front of the school yard just before first class period, setting off a massive police manhunt. Nicolaou reportedly had called in a bomb threat at a different school earlier that same morning. 

Reports said the boys appeared to be disoriented when they were found hours later in Nicolaou’s apartment, after the kidnapper had spiked their lemonade using a controlled substance.

Precious reports said the suspect was involved in operating online websites but police did not describe the full nature of those activities in the case. The trial took place behind closed doors.

There were no links drawn or associations made by officials between the school fire and last year's abduction.