Illegal power cable sparked fatal fire
Police charge suspect with manslaughter
A MAN has been charged with manslaughter following the death of an elderly relative in a house fire.
A 75-year old Mustafa Köleş was killed when a blaze ripped through the kitchen of his home in Türkmenköy. Mr Köleş suffered from speech and hearing difficulties and was unable to call for help.
It is believed that the electricity supply to his property had been disconnected and an illegal cable was hooked up to the floor above where the dead man’s inlaw, 54-year old Nedim Kömürcüoğlu, lives.
Mr Kömürcüoğlu was arrested for “negligence and causing the death of a person through carelessness.” He was granted bail when he appeared at Gazimağusa
District Court. Speaking to Cyprus Today’s sister newspaper, Kıbrıs, just before the hearing, Mr
Kömürcüoğlu said he had “for many years looked after [Mr Köleş] like my child. What has burnt down is not a house, but our hearts. I wish he never died, I wish the entire house burnt down instead. I am very upset. The whole family is.”
Police officer Ali Bulut said the suspect had “illegally” connected the property with a 7m long cable after power was disconnected. He said the kitchen was “completely burnt down” and that the victim had “most probably died from carbon monoxide poisoning”.