Istanbul: A wildfire raging in a seaside tourist area in western Turkiye killed three people, the provincial governor said on Monday, the latest in a string of blazes erupting countrywide.
Authorities found the bodies near the blaze in Alacati, which fire crews had brought under control using helicopters and water bombers, the governor of Izmir province Suleyman Elban said.
The fire was caused by sparks thrown up during welding work in the garden of a house located in scrubland, which then spread to a nearby forest, according to Turkiye's agriculture ministry.
Four people suspected of being responsible for the blaze had been arrested, justice minister Yilmaz Tunc said on social media website X.
Temperatures in parts of Turkiye have reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) over the last month, drying out vegetation and helping the spread of multiple wildfires.
In June, a wildfire killed 15 people in Turkiye's southeast, apparently sparked by faulty electric lines.
Wildfires have ravaged more than 44,000 hectares (108,000 acres) of land in Turkiye so far this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.
Experts say human-driven climate change is causing more frequent and more intense wildfires and other natural disasters, and have warned Turkiye to take measures to tackle the problem.
