Wildfires in southern Turkey leave three dead

29 July 2021, 17:04

Authorities evacuated homes in southern Turkey as a wildfire fanned by strong winds raged through a forest area near the Mediterranean coastal town of Manavgat (Suat Metin/IHA via AP)
Turkey Wildfire. Picture: PA

Dozens of people have been admitted to hospital, mostly for smoke inhalation.

Turkish authorities have begun investigating the cause of a string of forest fires in Turkey’s Mediterranean and southern Aegean regions.

A wildfire that broke out on Wednesday in Manavgat, in Antalya province, and was fanned by strong winds and scorching temperatures, was largely contained, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said.

But another fire that started overnight and swept through the district of Akseki, 30 miles north, kept firefighters engaged.

Three people were killed in those fires, and authorities evacuated nearly 20 neighbourhoods or villages.

The Antalya region is a popular vacation destination for tourists from Russia and other parts of Europe.

Fires also broke out on Thursday in 16 other locations, including in the Icmeler region, close to the resort of Marmaris, 200 miles west of Antalya, that briefly threatened holiday homes and hotels.

A hotel in the Aegean beach resort of Guvercinlik, near the town of Bodrum, was also evacuated, Mr Pakdemirli said.

An aerial photo shows destroyed houses as a wildfire fanned by strong winds raged through a forest area near the Mediterranean coastal town of Manavgat (Suat Metin/IHA via AP)

Mehmet Oktay, the mayor of Marmaris, told NTV television that he could not rule out “sabotage” for the fire there, while Fahrettin Altun, the Turkish presidential communications director, said “comprehensive investigations were … launched into the cause of the fires”.

“Those responsible will have to account for the attacks against nature and forests,” Mr Altun said Twitter.

Mr Pakdemirli said a total of 53 forest fires were reported in the country on Wednesday and Thursday, but that most of them had been brought under control.

Three planes, 38 helicopters and some 4,000 firefighters were deployed to battle the blazes, he said.

The dead in the fires in Antalya included an 82-year-old man in Akseki’s Kepezbeleni neighbourhood, where 80% of the houses were incinerated, the district’s governor, Volkan Hulur, told Anadolu.

Smoke rises from a forest fire in the Icmeler area, near Marmaris, Turkey (Patrizia Under/AP)
Smoke rises from a forest fire in the Icmeler area, near Marmaris, Turkey (Patrizia Under/AP)

The Turkish government’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD, said in addition to the three dead, at least 112 people were affected by the fires, including 58 who were admitted to hospital, mostly for smoke inhalation.

Authorities also rescued 10 people stranded at a restaurant near Akseki.

Mr Pakdemirli said more than 1,000 farm animals perished while 1,500 acres of agricultural land and 120 acres of agricultural glasshouses were destroyed in Manavgat.

He said 10 intubated intensive care patients at Manavgat’s state hospital were transferred to other hospitals as a precaution.

Patrizia Under, who was on holiday in the Icmerler area, said she was bathing in the sea with friends when she noticed a fire blazing on a mountainside behind a residential area that engulfed the air with smoke.

“We got out of the sea and got into our car and left,” she said by telephone, as she waited for authorities to allow people to return to their homes.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Virginia Giuffre

Woman driving Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre during crash that left her with 'four days to live' breaks silence

Exclusive
'Donald Trump has made Putin comfortable,' Mikhail Khodorkovsky has warned

'Trump has made Putin comfortable' despite massive Ukraine war losses, exiled former oligarch tells LBC

The bodies of Andrew Searle and his wife Dawn were discovered by a neighbour.

British couple found dead in south of France home being ‘treated as murder-suicide’

The vehicle was later extinguished after the driver, covered in flames, emerged from the vehicle.

Amsterdam Dam Square car explosion sees driver engulfed in flames - just days after mass stabbing

d

Pictured: US tourist arrested for sailing to remote island and leaving a can of Coke for world's most isolated tribe

The Sentinelese are a pre-Neolithic tribe that rejects contact with the modern world

US tourist arrested for sailing to remote island and leaving a can of Coke for the world's most isolated tribe to try

The Trump administration has been ridiculed after imposing tariffs on uninhabited islands

'No one is safe, not even the penguins': Trump administration ridiculed after imposing tariffs on uninhabited islands

World leaders react to US tariffs

'This is not the act of a friend': World leaders react to Trump's 'unwarranted' tariffs

British couple

British couple found dead in New Zealand named - as police probe possible murder-suicide

Virginia Giuffre said she had been left with 'four days to life' after the crash

Bus driver breaks silence on Virginia Giuffre crash that left her 'with four days to live'

Foreign Secretary David Lammy

David Lammy to urge Nato allies to increase defence spending in bid to make alliance 'stronger, fairer and more lethal'

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

EU threatens further countermeasures against US tariffs after 'major blow to world economy'

Lord Sugar labels Trump tariffs 'a disaster' as Apprentice star teases potential US Presidential meeting

Lord Sugar labels Trump tariffs 'a disaster' and warns that the president 'hasn't thought it through'

Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations in Gaza

Israel expands ground attack on Gaza to seize 'large areas' - despite pleas from hostage families

Police said two people died on Palliser Road, Roseneath.

British couple found dead at home in New Zealand - just months after moving to 'begin new chapter'

Virginia Giuffre warned it was a "very bad situation" after she claimed a school bus ploughed into her car

Virginia Giuffre was charged with breaching restraining order days before crash that 'left her with days to live'