World News | An Agricultural Fire Spreads Through Settlements in Southeast Turkey, Leaving at Least 5 Dead
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Five people were killed and dozens of others required medical treatment when a fire that apparently started in crop stubble spread through settlements in southeast Turkey overnight, officials and news reports said on Friday.
Ankara, Jun 21 (AP) Five people were killed and dozens of others required medical treatment when a fire that apparently started in crop stubble spread through settlements in southeast Turkey overnight, officials and news reports said on Friday.
The blaze erupted in an area between the provinces of Diyarbakir and Mardin.
Fanned by winds, it moved quickly through the villages of Koksalan, Yazcicegi and Bagacik, Diyarbakir Gov. Ali Ihsan Su said. The fire was brought under control early Friday.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca wrote on social media platform X that 44 people were treated in hospitals, including 10 who were in serious condition.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the blaze, which lit up the night sky.
Residents believe the fire was caused by sparks from a power line which set crop residue ablaze, according to independent news website Gazete Duvar.
Some of the hospitalised people were villagers who tried to extinguish the fire, it said.
Hundreds of farm animals also perished in the fire, according to news channel HaberTurk.
Across the country in northwest Turkey, meanwhile, firefighters were battling a wildfire near the town of Ayvacik in Canakkale province, the state-run Anadolu Agency said.
No one was hurt but authorities evacuated the small village of Camkoy as a precaution, the agency reported.
It was one of several wildfires that have erupted in the province of Canakkale in the past week amid high winds and scorching summer temperatures.(AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)