(Diyarbakir) The death toll from the vegetation fire that broke out in southeastern Turkey on the night of Thursday to Friday rose to 15, authorities reported, while experts point to a possible electrical origin.
According to the health directorate of Mardin province, cited by the official Anadolu agency, three people injured in the fire lost their lives over the weekend.
Two others are still in intensive care, a hospital source said on Monday.
The authorities, who reported a death toll of 12 on Friday, attributed the origin of the fire, which was brought under control on Friday, to stubble burning, and opened a judicial investigation.
In a report released on Sunday evening, the local branch of the Union of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) however states that “the cause of the fire is not thatch”.
“It was observed that the area where the fire broke out was cultivated and there was no stubble,” she wrote, believing that the disaster “could have been caused by power lines.” poorly maintained, as residents had mentioned.
Three legal experts also said Friday that one of the conductor cables of the high-voltage line “broke and ignited the grass on the ground.”
The fire, in which more than 900 sheep and goats died according to the Minister of Agriculture, then “spread over a wide area under the effect of the wind”, they note.
The flames then trapped villagers who were trying to save their livestock, according to residents’ accounts to AFP.
In June 2023, a similar vegetation fire broke out twenty kilometers further west. A Turkish court ordered electricity supplier Dedas, found guilty of poor maintenance of lines, to pay compensation to villagers whose land was engulfed in flames.
More than 15,000 hectares were destroyed by fires in Turkey in 2024, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis).
The fires that are increasing across the globe are associated with various phenomena anticipated by scientists due to global warming.
The increase in temperature, the increase in heatwaves and the drop in precipitation in places represent an ideal combination for the development of fires, which start more easily when the vegetation and soil are very dry.
