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Turkish Firefighters Battle to Contain Wildfire in Northwest 

A helicopter carries a water bucket as a wildfire burns in Canakkale, Türkiye, August 22, 2023, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. (Gurkan Duzenli/via Reuters)
A helicopter carries a water bucket as a wildfire burns in Canakkale, Türkiye, August 22, 2023, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. (Gurkan Duzenli/via Reuters)
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Turkish Firefighters Battle to Contain Wildfire in Northwest 

A helicopter carries a water bucket as a wildfire burns in Canakkale, Türkiye, August 22, 2023, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. (Gurkan Duzenli/via Reuters)
A helicopter carries a water bucket as a wildfire burns in Canakkale, Türkiye, August 22, 2023, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. (Gurkan Duzenli/via Reuters)

Firefighters battled a forest fire in the northwestern Turkish province of Canakkale on Wednesday as it spread for a second day because of high temperatures and strong wind.

Helicopters and land vehicles worked through the night and Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said more than 1,200 people from nine villages were moved to safety, with 48 people needing medical treatment.

Authorities also moved patients, including elderly people, from some medical centers as a precaution.

News footage showed raging fames and billowing smoke in hills visible from residential areas. Flames engulfed some abandoned village houses.

Marine traffic in the Dardanelles Strait, a narrow passage connecting the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea, was suspended again, the Tribeca shipping agency said, to allow aircraft including helicopters to collect water to douse the flames.

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1.2 Million in Japan Told to Use Less Water to Help Sinkhole Rescue

A large sinkhole where a truck fell into, in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, Japan, 30 January 2025. EPA/JIJI PRESS
A large sinkhole where a truck fell into, in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, Japan, 30 January 2025. EPA/JIJI PRESS
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1.2 Million in Japan Told to Use Less Water to Help Sinkhole Rescue

A large sinkhole where a truck fell into, in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, Japan, 30 January 2025. EPA/JIJI PRESS
A large sinkhole where a truck fell into, in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, Japan, 30 January 2025. EPA/JIJI PRESS

Japanese authorities have asked 1.2 million people to cut back on showers and laundry to prevent leaking sewage aggravating an operation to rescue a truck driver in a sinkhole.

The hole suddenly opened up in Yashio during the morning rush hour on Tuesday, swallowing the lorry.

Rescue efforts have been severely hampered by unstable ground around the hole and a second, larger hole appearing. Water has also been seeping in, AFP reported.

"Putting our first priority on saving the person's life, we are asking residents to refrain from non-essential use of water such as taking a bath or doing laundry," a Saitama prefecture official told AFP on Thursday.

"Using toilets is difficult to refrain from, but we are asking to use less water as much as possible."

In a statement sent to the roughly 1.2 million residents, the prefecture asked them to "please continue to refrain from sewage as polluted water may overflow".

"As the rescue work is facing difficulties, it will likely take time to restore" the sewage system, it said.

Some sewage water in the area was collected and released to a nearby river Wednesday.

No contact has been had with the 74-year-old truck driver since around 1:00 pm (0400 GMT) Tuesday and rescuers have been working around the clock to reach him.

The initial sinkhole, estimated at about 10 meters wide and six meters deep (33 feet by 20 feet), has since merged with another.

"At around 2:30 am (on Thursday), the two holes became one, and with risk of another landslide or collapse of roads, we've been unable to use heavy machinery," a fire department official told AFP.