Wildfires in several different regions of Turkey have claimed nearly 17 lives in the past month as record-breaking heatwaves and strong winds were seen fueling devastating blazes across the eastern Mediterranean.
The number of fatalities in fires outside the nation’s fourth-largest city, Bursa, rose to four on Monday as two volunteer firefighters passed away inside the hospital. This was right after they were pulled out from a water tanker that had overturned on the way to the forest fire.
Another worker ended up passing away at the scene earlier, and a firefighter suffered from a serious heart attack on Sunday.
More than 3500 residents in the same area were forced to flee from their residences over the weekend. The latest fatalities bring the number of dead in Turkey’s wildfire to 17. This includes 10 rescue workers and forestry workers who lost their lives in the fire last Wednesday in the western part of Turkey.
While several fires were partially contained, huge areas of the forest were said to be destroyed by those flames. Turkey’s foreign minister shared on Sunday that the nation had battled at least 44 separate fire incidents that same day.