NNA - Turkey on Wednesday shut the busy Dardanelle Strait for a second day to help firefighters fill up with water and douse flames near the tourist town of Canakkale.

Emergency responders said they had made progress containing a patchwork of fires that on Tuesday covered the edge of the popular seaside vacation destination with dark rolling clouds of smoke.

“It’s better today than yesterday,” Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said in televised remarks.

“Our friends stopped the fire from advancing. If there’s no wind, we will see the picture more clearly in the afternoon,” he added.

Officials said the flames had prompted the evacuation of 1,251 people and saw 48 seek hospital treatment for smoke inhalation.

The blaze also closed a local university campus and forced doctors to evacuate some patients from a hospital as a precaution.

The Dardanelle Strait links the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara and is a popular tourist destination because it is also the site of the ancient ruins of Troy. — AFP 

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