ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Five people were killed and dozens of others required medical treatment when a fire that apparently started in crop stubble spread through settlements in southeast Turkey overnight, officials and news reports said Friday.
The blaze erupted in an area between the provinces of Diyarbakir and Mardin. Fanned by winds, it moved quickly through the villages of Koksalan, Yazcicegi and Bagacik, Diyarbakir Gov. Ali Ihsan Su said. The fire was brought under control early Friday.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca wrote on social media platform X that 44 people were treated in hospitals, including 10 who were in serious condition.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the blaze, which lit up the night sky.
Residents believe the fire was caused by sparks from a power line which set crop residue ablaze, according to independent news website Gazete Duvar. Some of the hospitalized people were villagers who tried to extinguish the fire, it said.
Hundreds of farm animals also perished in the fire, according to news channel HaberTurk.
Across the country in northwest Turkey, meanwhile, firefighters were battling a wildfire near the town of Ayvacik in Canakkale province, the state-run Anadolu Agency said.
No one was hurt but authorities evacuated the small village of Camkoy as a precaution, the agency reported.
It was one of several wildfires that have erupted in the province of Canakkale in the past week amid high winds and scorching summer temperatures.
