A closed-circuit camera in the area had recorded the children playing at that spot before the tragedy occurred and they were found dead inside their father’s car. The camera footage in the authorities’ possession appears to be incomplete.

This was among the details revealed during the proceedings before the British Bases Court, where the father and stepmother of the two children, aged 8 and 10, who were found dead and locked inside their father’s vehicle late Sunday afternoon.

The children’s 30-year-old father and their 38-year-old stepmother have been in custody since yesterday as part of the police investigation being conducted to clarify the case, with the process of issuing a detention order currently underway.

The exact causes of death of the two children, moreover, are expected to be determined through scientific and forensic examinations.

According to reports, the car was parked outside the house and unlocked, while the keys were inside the house.

The Timeline and Scenarios

Late Sunday afternoon, an alarm was raised in Xylofagou when two boys, aged 8 and 10, were found dead inside their father’s vehicle. As was reported in court, the children were found by their stepmother that afternoon when she returned from work, and she notified the police.

In fact, the vehicle’s windows had to be broken to free the children.

Ambulances and members of the British Bases Police rushed to the scene, but it was already too late for the two children, as the doctors on duty pronounced them dead at the hospital.

The father was informed of the tragedy by his employer.

Initial indications suggest the investigation is focusing on the possibility of suffocation, though there has been no official confirmation of the exact causes of death so far.

The news has plunged the local community into mourning, with residents and neighbors who knew the two boys saying they are devastated by the unspeakable tragedy.

Speaking on the Alpha Kalimera show, the father’s cousin—who had come to Cyprus with the children— said that the children had come to spend their summer vacation with their father and no one expected this to happen. As he said, no one noticed anything, while the father and stepmother had gone to work. The car was locked, but one door, as he said, had not been locked; he assumed that the children had gotten into the car and fallen asleep. He didn’t realize what had happened until the police had already arrived at the scene. His father’s brother also lives in the same house; as he told the camera, the brother had gone to the pool at that time.

The Xylofagos Community Is in Shock

Around 4:30 p.m., Giorgos Ioulianos, head of the Xylofagos community, who expressed the community’s shock over the tragic incident.

“The parents had left for work that morning,” he said, adding that, according to what he had been told, it appears the children got into the car and the vehicle locked itself.

At a quarter to four, when the stepmother returned from work, she found the children, the community leader said.

He also noted that quite a few people gathered at the scene to offer assistance.

The Community will stand by the family for whatever they need, he noted.

Meanwhile, another account submitted to the police authorities of the British Bases states that the homeowner allegedly did not want the children on the premises because they were making a commotion.

An expert was on the scene from the very beginning to investigate the possibility that the children had been locked in the vehicle and were unable to get out.

The investigation is in full swing, and authorities are expected to conduct the necessary forensic and scientific examinations, which will shed light on the exact circumstances of the tragedy that has shocked all of Cyprus.

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