Three migrants injured after jumping from apartment balcony during immigration raid in south Cyprus

Three foreign nationals were seriously injured during an immigration raid at the FILANTA apartment complex in Larnaca on Wednesday, after reportedly falling from upper-floor balconies while attempting to evade arrest.

According to police, one of the men remains in critical condition after sustaining severe head injuries, while the other two are in serious but stable condition and considered out of danger.

The operation, conducted by the Civil Registry and Migration Department in coordination with police, targeted suspected undocumented migrants residing across several areas of Larnaca. Officers carried out searches at the FILANTA apartment complex, a five-building residential block near the city’s old port that has long been associated with safety and hygiene concerns.

Authorities said the first man fell from the fourth floor into an open courtyard, suffering a serious head injury before being transported by ambulance to Larnaca General Hospital. Two additional men were later discovered injured in a separate courtyard at the rear of the complex. Fire service personnel used a specialist rescue platform to retrieve them before they were also taken to hospital for treatment.

Police stated that one of the men had jumped from a third-floor balcony onto the street below, while the other two reportedly fell from a fourth-floor balcony onto a second-floor balcony beneath them. The exact circumstances surrounding the falls remain under investigation.

The apartment complex was immediately cordoned off as investigators examined the scene. Authorities had not confirmed by Wednesday afternoon whether arrests were made at the specific building where the incident occurred, though the immigration service later announced that 22 undocumented migrants had been detained during operations conducted across the city.

Residents of the complex described a chaotic scene as police arrived in large numbers shortly after 9:30 a.m. A Palestinian resident told local media that officers began conducting apartment-to-apartment searches before the incident unfolded.

“Then some people fell — we don’t know how — and they were taken to hospital,” the resident said.

Another foreign tenant alleged that several vacant apartments within the complex had been occupied illegally by squatters, including the building from which the men reportedly fell.

The FILANTA complex has repeatedly drawn the attention of local authorities over structural safety and sanitary conditions. The Larnaca District Local Government Organisation (EOA) had previously warned apartment owners to address concerns surrounding the deteriorating state of the buildings, which officials reportedly considered potentially dangerous.

The incident has revived memories of a similar tragedy in Limassol in April 2024, when two migrants jumped from a fifth-floor apartment during a police raid targeting undocumented residents. One of the men, Bangladeshi national Anisur Rahman, later died from his injuries.

Following that incident, the Independent Authority for the Investigation of Allegations and Complaints against the Police concluded that officers had committed no wrongdoing, although eyewitness accounts disputed aspects of the police version of events. Former Ombudswoman Maria Stylianou Lottides had also launched an investigation into whether proper procedures were followed and whether any human rights violations had occurred, though the inquiry was later suspended without public explanation.

Police investigations into Wednesday’s incident in Larnaca are ongoing.