The fires in Turkey have already resulted in several deaths.
In the popular holiday region of Antalya, among others, severe forest fires are currently raging.
Antalya - There are currently serious fires on the Mediterranean coast in Turkey.
The region around Antalya, which is popular with German holidaymakers, is particularly affected.
According to the state news agency Anadolu, citing the disaster control agency Afad, there was talk of several fatalities on Thursday.
Turkey: Forest fires in the Antalya region claim several lives
Accordingly, a total of three people are said to have died in the course of the fires in the Antalya region and other regions of Turkey. 58 people are currently being treated. There were reports of further fires in the regions of Mersin and Alanya, among others. The state TV broadcaster
TRT
reported that hotels in the Mediterranean city of Marmaris were also evacuated after a fire broke out near the city.
Between Wednesday and Thursday, a total of 41 forest fires broke out in 13 provinces of the country.
A large part of it had been deleted, said Bekir Pakdemirli, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, on Thursday morning (July 29) via Twitter.
According to this, 29 helicopters and more than 1,800 rescue workers were on duty on Thursday to keep the fires under control.
According to Pakdemirli, the authorities have so far evacuated 18 villages and districts in Antalya and 16 other villages in the neighboring provinces of Adana and Mersin.
Serious forest fires in Turkey: causes of fire not yet clarified - mayor suspects arson
According to reports, some strong winds had driven the rapid spread of the fires.
This is also the case in the region around the city of Manavgat.
“The fire has penetrated the residential areas.
Many homes and workplaces have burned down.
It spread to the center of Manavgat, ”said Sükrü Sözen, Mayor of Manavgat, to the Turkish television broadcaster
CNN Türk
.
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Several people died in the course of the fires on the Turkish Mediterranean coast and in other regions.
© Suat Metin / dpa
Tourist areas are currently not threatened by the fires.
The mayor of the city of Antalya, Muhittin Böcek, assured the state news agency Anadolu.
The causes of the fires in the region have not yet been clarified.
The authorities opened an investigation into the suspicion of arson after the fires broke out simultaneously in four different locations east of the resort on Wednesday.
Böcek also suspected arson.
Fire in Turkey: ARD correspondent reports on the first evacuations of hotels
According to ARD correspondent Michael Schramm, there are currently no reports of injured tourists in the holiday region. You saw pictures of thick smoke over holiday
beaches
on Wednesday, he told
tagessschau24
. "That was certainly scary for the tourists, but of course not dangerous," said Schramm. He also spoke of hotel evacuations in Marmaris. However, this would be done “extremely early”. According to Schramm, the authorities want to “avoid any form of risk”. The ARD correspondent said that more and more people would be evacuated earlier than necessary. The Turkish TV station TRT also reported on the evacuation of hotels in Marmaris.
Forest fires already broke out in several countries in July.
High temperatures and severe drought have sparked fires in northeastern Spain.
In Cyprus, flames killed at least four people earlier this month.
(ph / dpa / afp)
List of rubric lists: © Cevin Dettlaff / dpa
