Latest news with #Bulgarian-Turkish
TimesLIVE
3 days ago
- Climate
- TimesLIVE
Firefighters battle blazes in Turkey, Greece and Albania
Firefighters battled on Monday to put out wildfires in three provinces in Turkey, in Greece and near a tourist resort in Albania, stoked by strong winds after days of searing heat across the Mediterranean region. Smoke billowed over the mountainous Black Sea province of Karabuk, 200km north of the capital Ankara, as a wildfire which raged for a sixth day forced the evacuation of more than a dozen villages and burnt swathes of forests. In the northwestern province of Bursa, three firefighters were killed on Sunday when their vehicle crashed, Turkey's forestry ministry said on Monday. Crews fought two separate blazes there on Monday after the evacuation of more than 3,600 people from settlements in the southern provinces of Mersin and Antalya. Turkey has suffered dozens of wildfires in recent weeks as temperatures have soared, and 10 firefighters were killed last week battling a blaze in the central Eskisehir province. Hot and dry summers are common in the Mediterranean region, but more intense heatwaves have contributed to destructive wildfires in recent years amid fast-rising temperatures across the globe. At least 44 wildfires broke out in Greece in the past 24-hours, the fire brigade said on Monday afternoon. On the southern Greek island of Kythera, strong winds rekindled a blaze burning since Saturday. In Athens, firefighters quickly contained a fire that broke out at the foot of Mount Hymettus, near a university campus and densely populated suburbs. In Albania, more than 900 firefighters assisted by the army battled to control a wildfire before it reached the seaside city of Saranda and other tourist resorts in the south of the country on the Ionian coast. At least 13 people have been arrested for arson-related offences in the past three days, police said. Bulgaria, assisted by several European countries, deployed firefighting planes to help tame a large wildfire near the Bulgarian-Turkish border. So far the flames have scorched about 16,000 acres. Two people have been detained by authorities investigating the cause of the fires, according to local media. Over the weekend, several villages in Greece were evacuated and five people were injured in separate wildfires. As Greece saw off its third summer heatwave on Monday, rainy weather in Serbia helped firefighters there bring more than 100 wildfires under control.
AsiaOne
3 days ago
- Climate
- AsiaOne
Firefighters battle blazes in Turkey, Greece and Albania, World News
ATHENS — Firefighters battled on Monday (July 28) to put out wildfires in three separate provinces of Turkey, in Greece and near a tourist resort in Albania, stoked by strong winds after days of searing heat across the Mediterranean region. Smoke billowed over the mountainous Black Sea province of Karabuk, 200 kilometres north of the capital Ankara, as a wildfire which raged for a sixth day forced the evacuation of more than a dozen villages and burnt swathes of forests. In the northwestern province of Bursa, three firefighters were killed on Sunday when their vehicle crashed, Turkey's Forestry Ministry said on Monday. Crews fought two separate blazes there on Monday, following the evacuation of more than 3,600 people from settlements in the southern provinces of Mersin and Antalya. Turkey has suffered dozens of wildfires in recent weeks as temperatures have soared, and 10 firefighters were killed last week battling a blaze in the central Eskisehir province. Hot and dry summers are common in the Mediterranean region, but more intense heatwaves have contributed to destructive wildfires in recent years amid fast-rising temperatures across the globe. At least 44 wildfires broke out in Greece in the past 24 hours, the fire brigade said on Monday afternoon. On the southern Greek island of Kythera, strong winds rekindled a blaze burning since Saturday. In Athens, firefighters quickly contained a fire that broke out at the foot of Mount Hymettus, near a university campus and densely populated suburbs. In Albania, over 900 firefighters assisted by the army battled to control a wildfire before it reached the seaside city of Saranda and other tourist resorts in the south of the country on the Ionian coast. Some 13 people have been arrested for arson-related offences in the past three days, police said. Bulgaria, assisted by several European countries, deployed firefighting planes to help tame a large wildfire near the Bulgarian-Turkish border. So far, the flames have scorched about 16,000 acres in total. Two people have been detained by authorities investigating the cause of the fires, according to local media. Over the weekend, several villages in Greece were evacuated and five people were injured in separate wildfires. As Greece saw off its third summer heatwave on Monday, rainy weather in Serbia helped firefighters there bring more than 100 wildfires under control. [[nid:720710]]
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Climate
- RTÉ News
Firefighters battle blazes in Turkey, Greece and Albania
Firefighters are battling to put out wildfires in three separate provinces of Turkey, in Greece and near a tourist resort in Albania, stoked by strong winds after days of searing heat across the Mediterranean region. Smoke billowed over the mountainous Black Sea province of Karabuk, 200km north of the capital Ankara, as a wildfire which raged for a sixth day forced the evacuation of more than a dozen villages and burnt swathes of forests. In the northwestern province of Bursa, three firefighters were killed yesterday when their vehicle crashed, Turkey's Forestry Ministry said. Crews fought two separate blazes there yesterday, following the evacuation of more than 3,600 people from settlements in the southern provinces of Mersin and Antalya. Turkey has suffered dozens of wildfires in recent weeks as temperatures have soared, and ten firefighters were killed last week battling a blaze in the central Eskisehir province. Hot and dry summers are common in the Mediterranean region, but more intense heatwaves have contributed to destructive wildfires in recent years amid fast-rising temperatures across the globe. At least 44 wildfires broke out in Greece in the past 24 hours, the fire brigade said this afternoon. On the southern Greek island of Kythera, strong winds rekindled a blaze burning since Saturday. In Athens, firefighters quickly contained a fire that broke out at the foot of Mount Hymettus, near a university campus and densely populated suburbs. In Albania, over 900 firefighters assisted by the army battled to control a wildfire before it reached the seaside city of Saranda and other tourist resorts in the south of the country on the Ionian coast. Some 13 people have been arrested for arson-related offences in the past three days, police said. Bulgaria, assisted by several European countries, deployed firefighting planes to help tame a large wildfire near the Bulgarian-Turkish border. So far, the flames have scorched about 16,000 acres in total. Two people have been detained by authorities investigating the cause of the fires, according to local media. Over the weekend, several villages in Greece wereevacuated and five people were injured in separate wildfires. As Greece saw off its third summer heatwave today, rainy weather in Serbia helped firefighters there bring more than 100 wildfires under control.
Arab News
27-01-2025
- Arab News
Egyptian teenagers ‘left to die' by Bulgarian border police: Report
LONDON: Authorities in Bulgaria have been accused of letting three Egyptian teenagers die by ignoring emergency calls and delaying attempts to rescue them, The Guardian reported. The incident took place in sub-zero temperatures near the Bulgarian-Turkish border late last month. Evidence of the authorities' failure to save the boys was collected in a dossier produced by two humanitarian organizations, No Name Kitchen and Collettivo Rotte Balcaniche. The dossier, seen by The Guardian, contains photos, geolocations and personal testimonies, and reveals a wider pattern of brutality against migrants on the borders of Europe. The Bulgarian border with Turkiye is a common crossing point for asylum-seekers but contains treacherous terrain, as well as freezing winter weather. The two humanitarian organizations said that they were first alerted that an appeal for help had been made on Dec. 27 by the Egyptian trio. Calls had been made to an emergency charity hotline, referring to three teenagers 'at immediate risk of death.' The GPS location of the three Egyptians, who were lost in the forests of southeastern Bulgaria, was sent to the hotline. Charity workers then forwarded the information to the official 112 emergency number and attempted to locate the boys themselves. But Bulgarian border police allegedly hindered the charity rescue attempts even after being shown a video of one of the Egyptian teenagers in the snow. The boys were later identified as Ahmed Samra, 17, Ahmed El-Awdan, 16, and 15-year-old Seifalla El-Beltagy. They were later found dead, with the former having 'dog paw prints and boot prints around his body.' This 'indicates that the border police had already found him, maybe still alive or dead, but had chosen to leave him there in the cold,' the dossier said. After charity staff later returned to the scene, they discovered that all traces of the prints had been removed. One of the bodies of the deceased was found to have been partly eaten by an animal. The dossier released by the two organizations also details harassment of charity rescue teams as well as vandalism of one of their cars. Staff belonging to one rescue team had their passports and phones seized by Bulgarian police. Human rights organizations have warned that authorities in European border countries are deploying tactics to target humanitarian groups helping asylum-seekers. No Name Kitchen and Collettivo Rotte Balcaniche called for an 'independent, formal investigation' into 'systemic violence and negligence by Bulgarian authorities' and 'degrading treatment of people on the move.' Bulgaria's Interior Ministry rejected the allegations and said that investigations into the case continued. 'In 2024, there were 515 search-and-rescue operations conducted by (the) general directorate border police of Bulgaria with the purpose (of providing) medical assistance to third-country nationals who managed to enter the country irregularly,' the ministry said. 'Our patrols reacted to all of those signals in a timely manner, considering how crucial this is when a person is exposed to extreme weather conditions.' One activist described the reaction of Bulgarian border police to the three Egyptian teenagers as 'utterly shocking.' They said: 'It should not be the responsibility of worried activists to reach people in the forest — border police are trained and paid to do so. 'It is utterly shocking that three minors froze to death in the forest even though multiple alerts to 112 had been placed. This is a huge failure for everyone.'
The Guardian
27-01-2025
- The Guardian
Bulgarian police ‘blocked rescue' of teenage migrants who froze to death
Bulgarian authorities have been accused of ignoring emergency calls and obstructing efforts to rescue three Egyptian teenage boys, who later died in sub-zero temperatures near the Bulgarian-Turkish border in late December. A dossier of evidence compiled by two humanitarian organisations, seen by the Guardian, contains photos, testimonies and geolocations allegedly showing the authorities' failure to save the boys, who called for help as they struggled cold and lost in the forests of Burgas, in south-eastern Bulgaria. The organisations, No Name Kitchen (NNK) and Collettivo Rotte Balcaniche (CRB), say their report, Frozen Lives, reveals a bigger picture of brutality against migrants at Europe's borders. Bulgaria's border with Turkey is a frequent crossing point for people hoping to claim asylum in Europe but there have been well-documented human rights abuses in recent years, including allegations of illegal pushbacks of asylum seekers to Turkey. It is forbidding terrain, rocky and hilly with freezing winter temperatures and bitter winds. NNK and CRB say they were first alerted on the morning of 27 December 2024 that calls had been made to an emergency hotline set up by an umbrella group of charities. The calls referred to three teenagers 'at immediate risk of death' and sent GPS locations. The activists then made multiple calls to the official 112 emergency number and attempted to reach the boys themselves. Bulgarian border police allegedly hindered rescue attempts from the organisations despite being shown a video of one of the boys in the snow. The boys, later identified as Ahmed Samra, 17, Ahmed Elawdan, 16, and 15-year-old Seifalla Elbeltagy, were all later found dead with Ahmed Samra discovered with 'dog paw prints and boot prints around his body', which, the report says, 'indicates that the border police had already found him, maybe still alive or dead, but had chosen to leave him there in the cold'. Activists returning to the scene later say they found that all traces of the prints had been erased. One of those who discovered the body in the snow said the image was forever 'burned' into their memory. One of the boys' bodies was discovered to have been partly eaten by an animal. The report details systematic harassment of the organisations' rescue teams in plummeting temperatures in December, as well as vandalism of one of their cars, which they had been forced to abandon by border guards and was later found with its windows smashed and screws in its engine to disable it. One rescue team had their passports and phones confiscated by police, and their fingerprints and photographs taken. A female activist was strip-searched at the police station. 'I was separated from my male friends and strip-searched in front of two border police officers and was made to sit there while they went through my bags,' she said. 'I was on my period and it felt deeply uncomfortable and unnecessary to make me stand there naked. It felt like every action the officers made was just to intimidate and scare us and put us off doing something similar again.' During another rescue attempt, one group was forced to walk about six miles (10km) to the nearest town while being followed by border police in their car. Several human rights organisations have sounded the alarm in recent years at what they say is a sharp rise in the targeting of those showing solidarity and working with asylum seekers and migrants across Europe. Last September, the spotlight was back on the Bulgarian authorities after investigative reporting outlet Balkan Insight uncovered evidence suggesting officers of the EU border agency Frontex were being intimidated into silence about rights abuses they had witnessed at the Bulgarian border. In light of the teenagers' deaths, NNK and CRB have called for an 'independent, formal investigation' into 'systemic violence and negligence by Bulgarian authorities', and 'degrading treatment of people on the move'. One activist said: 'It should not be the responsibility of worried activists to reach people in the forest – border police are trained and paid to do so. 'It is utterly shocking that three minors froze to death in the forest even though multiple alerts to 112 had been placed. This is a huge failure for everyone. Not only the Bulgarian police forces, but for the EU overall and all its member states.' The Bulgarian interior ministry rejected the allegations and said its border forces had reacted in a timely manner to reports of young people in distress, sending patrols 'immediately', but that the bodies were found in different locations to those initially provided. It noted investigations were continuing in these cases, adding that the border police did not 'allow or tolerate any expression of inhuman or disrespectful behaviour of its personnel towards the citizens. And this applies for all citizens and all third-country nationals who irregularly entered on the territory of the country. 'In 2024 there were 515 search-and-rescue operations conducted by general directorate border police of Bulgaria, with the purpose – to provide medical assistance to third-country nationals who managed to enter the country irregularly,' the ministry said. 'Our patrols reacted to all of those signals in a timely manner, considering how crucial this is when a person is exposed to extreme weather conditions.'
