NICOSIA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus is sending a rescue team and medical supplies to Lebanon following Tuesday's mammoth explosions which flattened a large part of Beirut, Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides said on Wednesday.
He said that the help is being sent after his Lebanese counterpart submitted a list of needs.
"They requested rescuers, including trained dogs, to sniff people under the debris. They also asked for medical help and supplies," Christodoulides said.
He added that he was presiding over a meeting of officials from services involved so as to make sure that the help will be in Beirut within the next 24 hours.
Christodoulides modified his initial statement in which he said that the Cypriot embassy in Beirut was damaged, saying that the latest information he received showed that the building, lying 5 kilometers from the blast point, was completely destroyed.
He added that it was fortunate that at the time of the blast the embassy was closed.
Cyprus' charge d'affaires Eleni Papanikolaou was injured by the blast and spent the night in a hospital.
The sound of the blast was heard all over Cyprus as a mighty thunder. Window panes in some areas in capital Nicosiato shuddered. The distance between the two cities is about 240 kilometers. Enditem
