Fire fighters worked through the night to bring under control a forest fire which engulfed 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) in the Turkish tourism province of Antalya, the state Anatolian news agency said on Saturday. Dozens of aircraft supported the fight against the blaze, described by one official as the worst the region had ever faced. It threatened residential areas and historical sites, including the ancient Greek amphitheatre in Aspendos, 37 km (23 miles) from the Mediterranean resort of Side. A forestry directorate spokesman said the fire-fighting work continued into the early hours and that the blaze was advancing in several districts of Serik and Manavgat along the coast. Six villages have been evacuated and four of them were seriously damaged by the fires, spurred on by heavy winds, which locals tried to fight near their homes. Sources from the forestry directorate said 10,000 hectares of woodland had been lost to the fire. Seven planes and five helicopters were fighting the blaze but strong winds and excessive heat made it difficult to get it under control. Antalya has some of the richest remains of Greek civilisation in Turkey and is the nation's top tourist destination receiving about 7 million tourists each year, mostly during the summer period. The cause of the fires was not known, Reuters reported.
