FOREST BURNS

Sunday Mirror, Aug 3, 2008

TWO people are missing and 60 houses have been destroyed in a major forest fire that has devastated 10,000 acres of woodland in Antalya - Turkey's tourism heartland.

More than 1,300 people have been invoved in fighting the blaze, which also threatened historical sites, including the ancient Greek amphitheatre in Aspendos.

Aircraft dropped loads of water to douse the flames in what one official described as the worst fire the Antalya province had ever faced.

"I have never seen a sight like this," said Mustafa Kurtulmuslu, of Turkey's forestry directorate.