MANAVGAT, TURKEY -
The death toll from wildfires on
Turkey's southern coast has risen to four and
firefighters were battling blazes for a third day on Friday after the
evacuation of dozens of villages and some hotels.
اضافة اعلان
More than 70 wildfires have broken out this week in
provinces on Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean coasts as well as inland areas,
President Tayyip Erdogan said, adding that 14 were still burning.
Planes from
Russia and Ukraine helped battle the flames and
another from Azerbaijan was joining them. "As of midday, with the arrival
of the planes, we are turning in a positive direction," Erdogan told
reporters after Friday prayers.
Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said fires raged on in
six provinces and officials promised to bring to account anyone found
responsible for starting them.
Villages and some hotels have been evacuated in tourist
areas and television footage has shown people fleeing across fields as fires
closed in on their homes.
Pakdemirli said fires were still blazing in the
Mediterranean resort region of Antalya and the Aegean resort province of Mugla.
"We were hoping to contain some of the fires as of this
morning but while we say cautiously that they are improving, we still cannot
say they are under control," he said.
Wildfires have broken out elsewhere in the region, with more
than 40 in Greece in the last 24 hours, fanned by winds and soaring
temperatures, authorities said. On Tuesday, a blaze tore through a pine forest
north of Athens, damaging more than a dozen homes before it was brought under
control.
Fires also burned large swathes of pine forest in the
mountainous north of Lebanon this week, killing at least one firefighter and
forcing some residents to flee.
In Turkey, firefighters on the ground and in helicopters
were fighting a blaze that killed three people in Manavgat, 75 km (45 miles)
east of Antalya. Urbanisation Minister Murat Kurum said 27 neighbourhoods were
evacuated there.
One person was found dead on Thursday in Mugla's Marmaris
area, 290 km west of Manavgat. The blaze continued in Marmaris but residential
areas were not at risk, Pakdemirli said.
Erdogan said at least five planes, 45 helicopters, drones,
and 1,080 firefighting vehicles were involved in firefighting efforts at 1,140
sites.
Istanbul governor's office banned entry to forest areas
until the end of August as a precaution against fires.
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