Freak rainfall turns Nicosia roads into torrents, people saved from cars

Police said they rescued several people who were in imminent danger of drowning after freak rainfall at dusk flooded many roads in the capital, police said on Thursday.

According to police reports, a young mother and her child were pulled by passersby from a car as it was being washed by the waters of a river that covered a bridge in a Nicosia suburb.

The Fire Brigade said it had responded to more than 170 distress calls to rescue people from stranded cars or pump water out of houses.

Worst hit were four suburbs southwest of Nicosia which were inundated by the waters of the river Pedieos, which is usually dry.

But two hours of rain over the mountains south of the Cypriot capital was enough to cause the water to flow over low bridges.

A Fire Brigade spokesman said rescue teams would be working through the night.

Flooding also hit several villages southeast of Nicosia, police said.

A suburb west of Nicosia was hit by a hail storm, with hail piling up 5 to 10 cm high. Endit