Death toll rises to four as fires hit Turkey’s Mediterranean and southern Aegean regions
- The blazes burned down homes and forced people to evacuate villages and beach resorts
- Azerbaijan announced it would send 500 emergency workers, helicopters and other equipment to help Turkey, a close ally, battle the blaze
The death toll in fires raging in southern Turkey rose to four as fire crews on Friday battled blazes that burned down homes and forced people to evacuate villages and beach resorts.
Firefighters were still tackling wildfires in 14 locations in six provinces in Turkey’s Mediterranean and southern Aegean region, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters. A total of 57 other wildfires that broke out amid strong winds and scorching heat have been brought under control since Wednesday, he said.
The worst fires were in the Manavgat and Akseki regions in Antalya province, where strong winds pushed the fire toward settlements on Wednesday. An 82-year-old man and a married couple died, more than 50 people were hospitalised and dozens of homes were incinerated. More than 25 neighbourhoods or villages were evacuated.
Meanwhile, a 25-year-old volunteer died in another fire near the Turkish resort of Marmaris, 320km (200 miles) west of Antalya late on Thursday, raising the death toll in the fires to four. The state-run Anadolu Agency said the man was taking drinking water to firefighters but got in a motorcycle crash and perished in the fire.
The mountainside fire in Marmaris briefly threatened holiday homes and hotels on Thursday while guests at a luxury hotel in the Aegean beach resort of Guvercinlik, near the town of Bodrum, were evacuated in boats, reports said.