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HORROR IN AYIA NAPA

‘Gangland execution’ leaves four dead in Cyprus holiday resort popular with Brits

Victim's children witness killings in the heart of town's nightclub district

The deaths in the heart of the resort's nightclub district last night raised fears of a blow to tourist confidence just as the holiday island was hoping for a record summer season

HOLIDAYMAKERS cowered in terror as four people were shot dead at a family restaurant crowded with Brits  in Cyprus.

The shootout at a packed restaurant in the resort of Ayia Napa had the hallmarks of a gangland revenge attack, police said.

 Holiday horror ... Shooting took place in the heart of the popular resort's nightclub district
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Holiday horror ... Shooting took place in the heart of the popular resort's nightclub districtCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd

Masked gunmen let rip with a Kalashnikov and pistols at a table where a local club owner was dining with a cop, his wife and their two children.

The kids aged 14 and 13 survived by diving under a table, but their parents died along with their host.

The businessman’s three bodyguards, seated at a nearby table, fired back — killing one attacker as two others fled.

Phanos Kalopsidiotis, 51, was killed along with his wife Skevi, 39 and Elias Hadjiefthymiou, 46.

The bloodbath, which also left two wounded, comes four years after six of the tycoon’s bodyguards were gunned down in the same street.

In 2014 his father Yiannos was murdered outside his home not far from Ayia Napa.

The resort's nightclubs have long been popular with British and Russian tourists.

Local businesses have been hoping for a bumper year as jihadi bombings hit bookings to competitor destinations like Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey.


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