Keystone-SDA
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June 21, 2024 – 5:29 p.m.
(Keystone-ATS) At least eleven people were killed and dozens injured in a vegetation fire which spread by winds to several villages in southeastern Turkey. It also caused the death of hundreds of animals.
In an updated report at the beginning of the afternoon, the Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca reported “eleven deaths and seventy-eight people affected”. Among them, five had to be placed in intensive care, he said.
Mr. Koca had previously announced “44 injured, including ten seriously”, in this rural area located between the cities of Diyarbakir and Mardin, close to the Syrian border.
According to the minister, the flames had been brought under control during the night, but “cooling efforts are continuing” on Friday on the burned lands.
A new home
A new outbreak broke out Friday morning near the village of Ergani, in the same region, but was able to be contained, according to an AFP correspondent.
The villagers of Köksalan, one of the most affected localities, reported to AFP that they had lost half of their approximately one thousand goats and sheep, whose black corpses litter the charred ground.
Seven emergency teams and thirty-five ambulances were dispatched to the scene, Koca said.
The fire broke out late Thursday due to burning of stubble in an area located around thirty kilometers south of Diyarbakir, where the thermometer has climbed in recent days beyond 40 degrees during the day, said the Minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya.
The flames spread quickly under the influence of the wind, affecting five villages.
