Huge fires raged in the Kurdish-majority southeast region of Turkey last night, resulting in dozens of casualties and injuries. The fire broke out late on Thursday night in the area between Mazıdağı (Şemrex) district of Mardin (Mêrdîn) and Çınar district of Diyarbakır (Amed) and rapidly spread to at least 20 villages due to strong winds. Local citizens reported at least five people killed and 44 injured.
While the cause of the fire still remains unknown, there are suspicions that sparks from electrical wires were the source. Because the firefighting units on the ground were unable to contain the spread of the fire, there were many calls for aerial intervention to extinguish it. Among others, Kudret Uçuk, co-mayor of Mazıdağı (Şemrex) stated that she had “informed the district governor and the governor and asked for a helicopter” because the local fire brigades were “insufficient” and could not “intervene in the fire”. She made the call that they “need a helicopter to intervene as soon as possible. People are burning there!”.
A crisis management was formed under the chairmanship of Diyarbakır (Amed) Metropolitan Municipality Co-mayor Doğan Hatun. At team of 15 fire extinguishing vehicles with the help of hundreds of local citizens were able to control the fire.
Corn and wheat fields covering about five thousand hectares of land have been burnt, alongside hundreds of animals burnt to death and as many injured in the fire.
It was reported that a helicopter appeared to pour water from the Göksu Dam on hay bales after the fire was already extinguished at 5am on Friday morning. Citizens responded to the situation by saying, “Film, film this disgrace of a helicopter”.
