A forest fire near the Canakkale resort turned into a national disaster. At least for the first time, Turkey has closed traffic through one of its two main straits, the Dardanelles, connecting the Marmara and Aegean seas, on the shore of which the resort of Canakkale is located.
According to information from the Turkish press, at 3 a.m. from August 23 to 24 local time in Turkey, a decision was made to completely block the movement of vessels through the strait. The order was issued by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. Previously, only one-way traffic was allowed in the strait.
We will remind you that the fire itself started in the forest area of the resort near the village of Kayaderi. In total, at least 9 small settlements were evacuated, and the fire covered 1,500 hectares of land, 800 hectares of which are occupied by forests. According to the latest information, more than 1,200 people from 11 settlements were evacuated. 83 people who suffered from smoke inhalation from the fires were sent to hospitals. There has already been a version that the probable cause is arson. Or at least the human factor.
It is also reported that at the moment the number of firefighters has increased to 2,700 people, 8 airplanes and 26 helicopters have also been connected to firefighting, as well as hundreds of pieces of construction equipment.