Hundreds flee as rescuers battle wildfire on Gallipoli peninsula
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More than 250 people were evacuated overnight as a wildfire raged on the Gallipoli peninsula flanking the Dardanelles Strait. Photo / Handout, Demiroren News Agency, AFP
Seven villages on Turkey's Gallipoli peninsula flanking the Dardanelles Strait were evacuated as firefighters battled a raging wildfire propelled by high winds, officials said.
The fire began on Saturday in the northwestern province of Canakkale, spreading quickly in the hills near the town of Gelibolu, on the shores of the busy shipping strait.
Overnight, about 250 residents were evacuated from five villages, with two more emptied on Sunday, Canakkale governor Omer Toraman wrote on X, without giving a total number of people affected.
'So far, the fire has not spread to the evacuated areas,' he wrote, also saying that war cemeteries in the peninsula had 'not been affected' by the blaze.
The province – popular with tourists visiting the ancient ruins of Troy and the Gallipoli battleground where thousands of soldiers died in World War I – had suffered 'extremely severe drought' in the past year, he said.
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Hundreds flee as rescuers battle wildfire on Gallipoli peninsula
More than 250 people were evacuated overnight as a wildfire raged on the Gallipoli peninsula flanking the Dardanelles Strait. Photo / Handout, Demiroren News Agency, AFP Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. More than 250 people were evacuated overnight as a wildfire raged on the Gallipoli peninsula flanking the Dardanelles Strait. Photo / Handout, Demiroren News Agency, AFP Seven villages on Turkey's Gallipoli peninsula flanking the Dardanelles Strait were evacuated as firefighters battled a raging wildfire propelled by high winds, officials said. The fire began on Saturday in the northwestern province of Canakkale, spreading quickly in the hills near the town of Gelibolu, on the shores of the busy shipping strait. Overnight, about 250 residents were evacuated from five villages, with two more emptied on Sunday, Canakkale governor Omer Toraman wrote on X, without giving a total number of people affected. 'So far, the fire has not spread to the evacuated areas,' he wrote, also saying that war cemeteries in the peninsula had 'not been affected' by the blaze. The province – popular with tourists visiting the ancient ruins of Troy and the Gallipoli battleground where thousands of soldiers died in World War I – had suffered 'extremely severe drought' in the past year, he said.
