THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Turkish authorities said they were investigating the causes of fires that killed at least six people and threatened popular tourist destinations.
Firefighters in Turkey struggled to contain dozens of wildfires raging for a fourth day on Saturday, as fast-spreading blazes forced popular holiday resorts and dozens of rural areas along the Mediterranean coast to be evacuated.
The fires, which authorities say may have been sparked by arson or human negligence, have killed at least six people, officials said Saturday, and injured roughly 200 others.
As tourists were forced to flee hotels, some on boats as flames licked closer, local residents in rural areas watched the fires burn their homes, kill their livestock and destroy their businesses.
“Our lungs are burning, our future is burning,” Muhittin Bocek, the mayor of Antalya, a resort city, said in a telephone interview from the ravaged town of Manavgat, about 50 miles east along the coast.
The blazes are part of a broader pattern of wildfires afflicting the Mediterranean this summer, with areas in Lebanon, Syria, Greece, Italy and Cyprus also battling fast-moving fires. » | Elian Peltier and Asmaa al-Omar | Published: Friday, July 30, 2021; Updated: Saturday, July 31, 2021
