Forest fires kill five and injure dozens in Türkiye

Five people were killed following forest fires which ravaged several villages in south-eastern Turkey, the Minister of Health announced on Friday June 21. “There were five deaths and 44 injured, including 10 seriously” in two areas near the town of Mardin, wrote Fahrettin Koca on the social network X. “Unfortunately, three residents from the Diyarbakir region and two from the Mardin region lost their lives”specified the Minister of the Interior, Ali Yerlikaya, also on X.

Images posted on social media show a gigantic fire lighting up the sky at night with large clouds of smoke. Four emergency teams and 35 ambulances were dispatched to the scene, Fahrettin Koca said. The fire broke out late Thursday in an area located about thirty kilometers south of Diyarbakir and it spread quickly due to strong winds, affecting five villages, described Ali Yerlikaya.