A 44-year-old foreign national was found dead on Sunday morning in the basement of a restaurant in the Petra tou Romiou area of Paphos, while a 32-year-old woman was taken to hospital in critical condition.
According to police, at around 9:45 a.m. the 59-year-old Greek Cypriot restaurant owner went down to the basement, which his 44-year-old employee had been using as living quarters, and found him unconscious alongside a woman.
Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department, Kouklia Police Station and an ambulance arrived at the scene promptly. The 44-year-old man was already dead.
The woman, a 32-year-old compatriot of the deceased who worked as a domestic helper in a village in the Paphos district, was rushed to Paphos General Hospital. She is being treated in the Intensive Care Unit with severe respiratory problems.
Inside the room, a rectangular metal container with burning charcoal was found, apparently used for heating. Carbon monoxide fumes in the enclosed space are considered the most likely cause of death. The exact cause will be confirmed following the statutory autopsy.
