AT least 17 people have been killed in apocalyptic wildfires tearing through Turkey as record-breaking 50C heat and howling winds fuel devastation across the eastern Mediterranean.
The infernos have forced more than 3,500 residents to flee their homes since late June, with vast swathes of forest reduced to ash.
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Ten rescue volunteers and forestry workers lost their lives in a blaze in Eskisehir last week, while four more died outside Bursa over the weekend.
Two volunteer firefighters succumbed to injuries after being pulled from an overturned water tanker.
Another worker died at the scene and a firefighter suffered a fatal heart attack on Sunday.
Turkey’s forestry minister Ibrahim Yumakli confirmed that crews battled at least 44 separate fires on Sunday alone, declaring the western provinces of Izmir and Bilecik disaster areas.
The chaos comes as firefighters across the region struggle to contain a wave of blazes fuelled by a relentless heatwave and bone-dry conditions.
Across Turkey alone, firefighters have battled more than 600 blazes in the past week, with over 1,900 emergency responders drafted in to help save trapped residents.
With record-breaking temperatures showing no sign of easing, officials fear the death toll could rise as the eastern Mediterranean braces for even more infernos.
In Greece, a week-long heatwave peaking at 45C sparked multiple wildfires, forcing mass evacuations near Athens and across the islands of Crete and Evia.
A huge blaze scorched a northern suburb of the Greek capital on Saturday, with 115 firefighters and 24 vehicles deployed on Evia, backed by six planes and seven helicopters.
Meanwhile, Cyprus is battling what officials have branded its worst wildfires “for 50 years.”
With temperatures soaring to 44C, dozens of homes have been destroyed in the Troodos mountains.
Brit couple Lucy and Ben Armstrong were among those left homeless.
Ben told The Sun: “We lost everything that day, there’s nothing left.
“We had fish tanks in the house and there was absolutely nothing left of what was in the water except melted glass on the floor.”
Two people were found dead in a burnt-out car as more than 70 houses were reduced to rubble.
Meanwhile, in Sardinia, Italy, tourists were sent running for their lives when flames ripped right down to the beach at Punta Molentis on the island’s southeast coast.
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Sunbathers abandoned their towels and spades as thick black smoke engulfed the shoreline.
The coast guard evacuated 102 people by sea, while helicopters hovered overhead during the dramatic operation.
Some 200 cars and a kiosk were torched as the blaze tore through the Sarrabus area — described by local media as a “jewel” now reduced to cinders.
Footage showed burnt-out vehicles after flames ravaged the parking area, leaving many stranded.
Fire crews deployed two Canadair firefighting planes, a helicopter, regional aircraft, and even an Italian Air Force vehicle to contain the inferno as winds fanned the flames.
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