Five dead, 44 injured in Turkey wildfires

Five people were killed and 44 injured, including ten in critical condition, due to fires that broke out in several villages in southeastern Turkey on Thursday night, according to an announcement by the Turkish Health Minister on Friday.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca stated on the platform “X” that “the fire swept through two areas near the city of Mardin in the southeast of the country.”

Greece, Turkey’s maritime neighbor in the Mediterranean, also experienced summer wildfires.

Dozens of Greek firefighters, supported by water-dropping aircraft, managed to control a major blaze on the outskirts of Athens late Wednesday, forcing authorities to evacuate two nearby villages.

The Greek fire service announced that the fire near Athens, one of many across the country on Wednesday, was largely contained, but firefighters would remain on alert throughout the night to prevent it from reigniting.

The fire broke out in arid land covered with olive trees and small shrubs in a sparsely populated area near Vari, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of central Athens, according to media reports.

Fire service spokesperson Vasilis Vathrakogiannis explained that winds at times reached gale force, and police were tasked with evacuating some residents from their homes.