A fire in Turkey’s coastal city of Antalya’s Manavgat region resulted in the death of 550 animals on Saturday.
Due to extreme heat, a fire in Manavgat's Hatipler neighborhood village broke out as a result of a transformer and was quickly spread by the wind.
The fire spread into the cultivated area and the olive trees, and reached a sheep pen in the Hatipler neighborhood. Sheep and lambs being bred for Eid al-Adha were killed in the fire.
Locals rescued about 50 sheep and lambs from a total of about 600. The remaining 550 sheep were killed in the fire.
The sheep pen and the food stored nearby were turned to rubble.
Three cows graving close to the pen were burnt by the fire. The hide of the cows that tried to escape the fire are burnt to a great extent.
“There were about 600 sheep and lambs, two cows and one calf in three different pens. As far as I can see, we saved about 50 sheep. We are experiencing great sorrow. The good thing is that we were not hurt. All of the food we had bought to feed our animals was also burnt in the fire,” said Selahattin Gök, one of the brothers who owned the burnt-down pens.
Manavgat Governor Nazmi Günlü, Mayor Şükrü Sözen, Head of Agriculture Chamber Rasim Metin and Chief Craftsman of Trade Craftsman Salim Aksoy reached out to the animal owners.
Governor Günlü stated that a disaster had taken place.
"Officials from the Agricultural District will carry out the necessary examinations and will be required to meet the damage of our citizens,” he said.
Municipality teams will remove and efface the bodies of the animals once examinations are complete.
