A BRITISH holidaymaker is critically ill with swelling in the brain after being beaten up by a gang of fellow Brits in Cyprus.
The 21-year-old victim is said to have been attacked by up to a dozen British tourists in the early hours of the morning in the party resort of Ayia Napa.
Passers-by are said to have found the beaten tourist and called the emergency services.
He was initially taken to the emergency unit of the General Hospital of Famagusta but was later transferred to General Hospital in Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus.
The victim reportedly suffered a fractured skull, a macular oedema, a haemorrhage and nose trauma in the attack.
Macular oedema occurs when there is abnormal leakage and accumulation of fluid on or under the macula of the eye and causes it to thicken and swell.
The victim was placed onto a drip and transferred to intensive care where he has been sedated and his condition is described as severe.
The perpetrators have not been identified but local media said cops were hunting 12 British tourists.
No arrests have been reported so far.
The incident comes after a 23-year-old British tourist was hospitalised in July with serious head injuries following a brawl with another Brit in the resort.
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According to Cypriot police, the young man was attacked by a 24-year-old Brit after arriving at his hotel in the early hours of the morning.
Following the fight, the unnamed tourist was rushed to a nearby medical centre with head injuries.
Doctors at the Amohostos General Hospital said that he had suffered a subdural hematoma, a blood clot near the brain.