2 Spanish fire-fighting planes battle wildfires in Turkey

ISTANBUL: AUGUST 3 – Two fire-fighting planes belonging to Spain arrived in Turkey on Tuesday to battle the deadly wildfires that gripped the southern and southwestern provinces of the country.

The Spanish team, consisting of 27 crew members in total, will first join the extinguishing efforts in the southwestern province of Mugla, the Spanish embassy in Turkey said.

The planes will be diverted to the southern province of Antalya to intervene in the blaze there if needed.

The European Union had earlier said the bloc would send two fire-fighting planes from Spain and one from Croatia after Turkey activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

The Croatian plane had arrived in the Antalya province on Monday, according to press reports.

For the last one week, Turkey has been battling massive wildfires that erupted in the southern and southwestern coastal resort towns. The blazes have claimed eight lives so far.

-XINHUA