Firefighters were for a third day on Saturday battling a forest fire in Turkey’s Aegean city of Izmir, a day after hundreds of local people in nearby villages had to be evacuated.
Firefighters said they had partially beaten back the flames that have been threatening the port city over the past three days, although fires were still burning in the nearby forests.
In the northern suburb of Ornekkoy, Agence France-Presse journalists saw the charred remains of several buildings and vehicles in an industrial zone, while gray smoke billowed into the sky.
Photo: AFP
“We don’t know what to do. Our workplace is located in the middle of the fire. We have lost our livelihood,” said 48-year-old Hanife Erbil, who earns a living collecting paper and plastic waste.
The pine trees that once crowned the surrounding hills were also burned.
“It was such a beautiful route, it smelled of pine trees everywhere. It makes me want to cry,” taxi driver Ayhan said.
The smell of smoke was hanging over the city, the third most-populated in Turkey.
Firefighters from other Turkish cities have been sent as reinforcements and the army has been mobilized.
“Everyone is working hard. I’m on my 36th hour of service. We can say the fire is partially under control,” Izmir firefighter Arjin Erol said.
The fire started on Thursday and spread quickly to residential areas due to winds blowing at 50kph.
Turkish Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya said 900 residents in five affected districts had been evacuated on Friday night in Izmir.
On Saturday, those villages remained empty for security reasons, except for a handful of volunteers who left food and water for animals living in the forest. Wild animals, cats and dogs died in the fire, but no human victim has yet been reported.
The fire damaged 16 buildings and affected 78 people, with 29 of them admitted to hospital, the Turkish Ministry of Health said.
“Currently, two planes and eleven helicopters are continuing to intervene,” Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim Yumakli said, after strong winds had earlier grounded the helicopters and water bombers.
Residents of the city should not be worried, he added.
About 1,600 hectares have been affected, Yumakli said, adding that the challenging terrain was making it difficult to put out the fire at its origin.
Five other fires continue to rage in forest areas in other cities in Turkey, including northwestern Bolu and Aydin in the west.
New fires broke out again in Izmir late on Saturday engulfing several districts including Bayindir and the popular holiday resort of Cesme, Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay wrote on social media.
The authorities have controlled the fire in Cesme, which lies across the Greek island of Chios, he said.
Officials said seven people were detained in Izmir over alleged links to the fire.
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition