Wildfires continue to plague Turkey, with multiple blazes raging along its southern coasts, threatening resort towns. At least three people died in the blazes and multiple houses were destroyed.
On Thursday, a massive fire broke out on the outskirts of the Aegean resort town of Marmaris. Footage from the scene shows open flames raging in the wooded mountains towering above the towns.
The fire prompted an aerial response, with at least one Russian Be-200 firefighting plane, sent in to help the country contain the wildfires, spotted among the aircraft dousing the burning mountains in a bid to stop the fire from taking over the town.
A separate blaze has also broken out near another popular destination, the town of Bodrum. The fires around the town have prompted evacuation of at least one hotel in the area, according to Turkey’s agriculture minister Bekir Pakdemirli.
A large fire was spotted right beside the luxurious Titanik Hotel – built on burnt grounds after a major forest fire back in 2007 – yet it was not immediately clear if this was the hotel the minister was referring to.
Footage circulating online shows a wall of flames towering above the hotel, though it appears the building itself is not on fire.
Another popular tourist destination, the coastal town of Manavgat, located some 75 km (45 miles) east of the resort city of Antalya, has seemingly seen the worst of the fires so far. The town was heavily battered by the flames on Wednesday, with fires continuing to burn in the area into Thursday despite firefighting efforts.
While the blaze did not reach the town’s center, parts of Manavgat’s outskirts have been destroyed by the flames. Aerial footage from the scene shows the burnt-out husks left of residential homes.
At least three people died in the Manavgat inferno, according to Pakdemirli. The blaze also took a heavy toll on both wild and domestic animals which got left behind and burned alive, disturbing imagery circulating online shows.
A total of 58 forest fires erupted across 17 of the country’s 81 provinces over the past two days, Pakdemirli tweeted. At least 38 of these fires have been brought “under control” already.
While wildfires are common in the area during the summer months, Turkey’s government has also suggested that at least some of the fires might be caused by arson, promising to find and punish alleged perpetrators.
“Those responsible will be held to account for the attacks they mounted on our nature and forests as soon as possible,” the presidency’s communications director Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter.
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