Turkey wildfire kills 12 and devastates flocks
A huge wildfire killed 12 people and injured more than 75 as it ripped through Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, the health minister said, AFP reports.
Hundreds of animals have perished in the blaze that roared across the dry landscape.
The fire has left huge areas of charred and blackened land between the cities of Diyarbakir and Mardin, near the border with Syria.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 12 people had died and 78 people suffered injuries and smoke inhalation. Five people were being treated in intensive care, he said.
Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM party, which won many municipalities in the southeast in local elections in March, criticised the government's intervention as "late and insufficient".
As the fire spread during the night, the DEM had urged the government to send water bombers, saying fighting the blaze from the ground was "not enough".
The fire stared on Thursday and quickly threatened five villages. A new blaze broke out on Friday near the village of Ergani but was brought under control, an AFP correspondent witnessed.
An AFP reporter in Diyarbakir province saw around 100 animals lying dead on the ground in the village of Koksalan.
Residents told AFP around half their flock of about 1,000 sheep and goats had perished.
A local vet, who did not want to give his name, confirmed the deaths and said many of those that survived were being treated for burns.
