Wildfires rage near Turkey's tourist beaches

Turkish firefighters on Wednesday battled wildfires near the country's southern tourist beaches that have forced the evacuation of hundreds of people, authorities said.

Hundreds of firefighters went up against the biggest fire in Mugla province, with more than 20 planes and helicopters bombing water on the flames, the agriculture ministry said.

Media reports said the main highway from the tourist city of Antalya to the beach resort of Fethiye had been closed because of the smoke.

NTV television said that access to the ancient ruins at Olympos in Antalya province had been closed.

In Mugla province, the wildfire started on agricultural land and spread to a forest, the provincial governor's office said. It added that 202 residents and some patients from a hospital had been evacuated.

Another major fire burned in the Balikesir region on the Aegean coast along the road connecting Izmir, the country's third-largest city, to the Dardanelles region.

Turkey has sent two firefighting planes to Spain to help with its wildfires and two others to France, which has also been battling forest fires.

Agence France-Presse