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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Mert Ozkan & Danya Bazaraa

Turkey wildfires: Devastation of blazes which have killed 4 shown in satellite images

Dramatic satellite images show the devastation of the wildfires on Turkey's southern coast as the death toll rises to four.

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.

Satellite images show thick plumes of smoke covering large swathes of the area.

Firefighters were battling blazes for a third day on Friday after the evacuation of dozens of villages.

Some hotels have been evacuated in tourist areas and television footage has shown people fleeing across fields as fires closed in on their homes.

An infrared satellite image shows fire lines and crews battling a wildfire near Oymapinar, Turkey (via REUTERS)

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.

Smoke from wildfires on Turkey's southern coast in another satellite image (via REUTERS)

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.

A firefighter extinguishes a forest fire near the town of Manavgat (REUTERS)

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.

Tourists watch billows of smoke rise near the seaside resort of Icmeler (Arsen Khasanov/TASS)

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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