Dardanelles shipping to resume as Turkey battles fires

The blaze, which prompted mass evacuations, would be under control shortly, President Erdogan said. He said more than 150 ships were halted on the Dardanelles to allow helicopters and planes to scoop up water to douse the flames.

The strait, linking the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, is a major shipping route for commodities such as oil and grains. Some 71 southbound vessels would resume transit at 1900 GMT, the traffic authority announced late on Wednesday.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said more than 1,200 people from nine villages had been evacuated from the path of the fire, which broke out in the province of Canakkale on Tuesday and was fanned by high temperatures, dry air and strong winds.

By Wednesday, it had spread across around 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres).

News footage showed raging flames engulfing some abandoned houses and billowing smoke in hills visible from residential areas.

Helicopters and land vehicles had worked through the night to contain the fire, which Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said caused unspecified injuries to 83 people. No fatalities were reported.