6 killed as wildfires wreak havoc over southern Turkey
Print Edition
Dozens of villages were evacuated in tourist hotspots in southern Turkey yesterday as wildfires that have killed six people raged for the fifth day, while Greece, Italy and Spain were also hit by blazes.
Fanned by soaring temperatures, strong winds and climate change 鈥 which experts say increases both the frequency and intensity of such blazes 鈥 this year鈥檚 fire season has been significantly more destructive than average, EU data shows.
Turkey is suffering its worst fires in at least a decade with nearly 95,000 hectares burnt so far this year, compared with an average of 13,516 at this point in the years between 2008 and 2020.
A neighborhood in the tourist city of Bodrum has been evacuated, CNN Turk reported, as flames were fanned by strong winds.
After hitting record levels last month, temperatures are set to remain high in the region.
A temperature of 49.1 degrees Celsius was recorded in the southeastern town of Cizre on July 20.
And the mercury is expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius in Antalya today.
Turkey鈥檚 defense ministry released satellite images showing the extent of the damage, with forest areas turned black and smoke still visible.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been criticized after it emerged that Turkey has no firefighting planes despite one-third of its territory being forested and fires becoming an increasing problem.
According to EU figures, Turkey has been hit by 133 wildfires in 2021 so far compared with an average of 43 by this point in the years between 2008 and 2020.
Firefighters were also battling fires in Greece, after a major blaze broke out early Saturday near Patras in the west.
According to EU data, 13,500 hectares had been burnt in Greece, compared with an average of 7,500 at this point in the years from 2008 to 2020.
Italy was again hit by fires after more than 20,000 hectares of forest, olive groves and crops were destroyed by a blaze in Sardinia last weekend.
More than 800 flare-ups were recorded this weekend.
While the south of Italy has been burning, the north has suffered wild storms.
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