Wildfires raged on Sunday near Turkey’s holiday beach destinations of Antalya and Mugla, and in the surrounding countryside, for a fifth day, as the discovery of more bodies raised the death toll to eight, while villagers lost their homes and animals.
Residents and tourists fled the danger in small boats, while the coast guard and two navy ships waited out at sea in case a bigger evacuation was needed.
Fires also enveloped Mugla Province’s Mazikoy, and villagers who evacuated were devastated.
Farmer Nurten Almaz said she lost everything.
“I feel so much pain, like I lost a child,” she said.
The 63-year-old lost her animals and her home, as well as “one century of people’s labor.”
Almaz called for the death penalty for people who might have caused the fire.
Residents had to flee nearby Cokertme village as flames neared. Some got on boats and others left by car as the fire got closer.
In one video, firetrucks and cars were rushing to escape fire raging on all sides. After nightfall, the village looked apocalyptic from a distance, with flames taking over the dark hills.
Bodrum Mayor Ahmet Aras on Sunday evening said that people experienced “hell” near Cokertme and Mazi as they drove away from the fire.
He said the blaze could not be stopped and hoped to protect residential areas, but said it was too late for the trees.
The area was engulfed by Sunday night, Turkish broadcasters said.
Reporters said they had to hurry to safety as the fire intensified with strong winds. Officials said precautions were being taken to protect two thermic power plants.
Authorities warned tourists and residents to evacuate Turunc, a town in the seaside resort of Marmaris in Mugla Province.
Fires enveloped the area and strong winds made firefighting efforts more difficult. A helicopter attempted to extinguish the blazes, which were unreachable by land.
Aerial firefighting was not possible at night and the fires raged, burning hectares of forests.
Forestry official Mustafa Ozkaya said units continued to fight fires strategically, digging ditches and taking other measures. He said eight planes and 50 helicopters would fly in Mugla yesterday.
The European Commission announced that it had helped mobilize one firefighting Canadair plane from Croatia and two from Spain to aid Turkey.
Planes from Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran have been helping.
Watching from out in the Mediterranean Sea, the area looked bright orange.
As residents of villages around Marmaris pleaded for more help on social media, people boarded small boats carrying suitcases. Others waited anxiously to see if the fire would come down to the shore.
High temperatures and strong winds were making matters worse. Antalya registered 42°C, about 5°C higher than the seasonal average.
Earlier on Sunday, police water cannons, usually used to control riots, helped helicopters and fire trucks fight fires in Mugla’s Bodrum District.
Turkish television showed fires had reignited after being extinguished earlier, with flames and smoke approaching a village.
Social media videos showed tourists in Bodrum scampering down the streets rolling their luggage to escape the nearby flames.
Turkish Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca said that at least 27 people affected by the fires were still receiving treatment in hospital, while hundreds of others had been released.
Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli said that 117 wildfires were “under control” across Turkey, while eight continued. His social media posts showed that since Wednesday last week, wildfires had ignited in 32 provinces.
While Turkish authorities say they are investigating whether the fires might have started as “sabotage” by outlawed Kurdish militants, experts mostly pointed to climate change, along with accidents.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that one of the fires was started by children.
A heat wave across southern Europe, fed by hot air from North Africa, has led to wildfires across the Mediterranean, including on the Italian island of Sicily and in western Greece, where some residents had to be evacuated by boat to escape the flames.
At least five people were wounded and holidaymakers evacuated after wildfires devastated a pine wood near a beach in Pescara, Italy.
A five-year-old girl was taken to hospital, but her condition was not believed to be life-threatening, reports said.
About 800 people were evacuated from their homes, including a convent of nuns, after a fire broke out in the Pineta Dannunziana nature reserve.
“We had to evacuate several homes and beach resorts due to the smoke,” Pescara Mayor Carlo Masci said. “The biggest problem is the hot wind. We are doing the best we can to limit the damage.”
More than 800 flare-ups were recorded this weekend, mainly in the south, the Italian National Fire Service said.
“In the past 24 hours, firefighters have carried out more than 800 interventions: 250 in Sicily, 130 in Puglia and Calabria, 90 in Lazio and 70 in Campania,” the service wrote on Twitter.
Additional reporting by the Guardian
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