Fifth-floor balcony collapses in Limassol

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A fifth-floor balcony of a building on a busy Limassol avenue collapsed in the early hours of Thursday; fortunately, nobody was injured or caused damage to vehicles passing by.

The balcony collapsed from the fifth floor of an old apartment block called the Marinos Building on Limassol’s Makarios Avenue at 4 am Thursday.

Fortunately, the balcony had collapsed before the rush hour as the building is located on one of the city’s busiest roads.

A crew from the Limassol Municipality was called to the scene to remove concrete debris from the road before allowing traffic to pass.

The balcony collapse in Limassol has added to concerns over the safety of hundreds of old buildings in urban areas, as this was not the first balcony collapse this year.

Two balconies had collapsed in Paphos earlier in July, injuring five people, three of whom were serious.

Three young Nepalese workers were treated in critical condition after being seriously injured when the balcony of their crowded apartment in Paphos collapsed.

The men had been sleeping on the balcony when it collapsed on 8 July.

A second balcony, collapsing a day later, had injured two patrons at a café underneath which debris had fallen onto.

The incidents led to a war of words between local authorities and the Interior Ministry over who was responsible for checking the safety of ageing buildings.

The Scientific Technical Chamber of Cyprus (ETEK) has since urged authorities to step up checks on old buildings, possibly posing a threat to public safety.