Wildfire rips through forests in SW Turkey: report

The fire broke out near the Aegean coastal resort of Marmaris, in the province of Mugla, in an area known as Bordubet.

State-owned Anadolu news agency said the fires had spread quickly due to windy conditions and were continuing to expand at a rapid pace. The cause of the fire is unknown, it said.

Aerial footage from the Mugla Regional Forestry Management showed smoke billowing as the fires spread through the woodlands in the sparsely populated area.

The Mugla Municipality said firefighters and forestry units were working to contain the fire.

Last summer's blazes were the most intense in Turkey on record, a European Union atmosphere monitor said last year, adding that the Mediterranean had become a wildfire hotspot.  

Human-induced climate change is making heatwaves more likely and more severe, scientists say.

Last year, hundreds of fires broke out in Turkey's forests, especially in the southern coastal strip, destroying thousands of hectares of the country's forests and turning them to ashes.

MA/PR