Turkish president offers condolences to his Kazakhstani counterpart over loss of lives in wildfires

By Busra Nur Cakmak

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish president on Monday offered condolences to his Kazakhstani counterpart over the deaths of 14 forest rangers in wildfires.

Türkiye is ready to provide any assistance that Kazakhstan needs, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, according to the Türkiye’s Communications Directorate.

Erdogan wished God's mercy on those who lost their lives and a speedy recovery to the injured, it added.

The death toll in major forest fires in Kazakhstan’s eastern Abai Region rose to 14, according to local media reports.

“The bodies of 11 more people were found during the search operations,” the state-run news agency Kazinform reported, citing the country’s Emergency Situations Ministry.

The identities of the victims are being determined, the agency added.

Earlier, search and rescue teams recovered the bodies of three forest employees and were searching for 11 others in the 60,000-hectare (148263-acre) fire.

The ministry said in a statement that more than 600 personnel, six helicopters, and 168 pieces of equipment were involved in firefighting efforts.

The wildfires were caused by dry and hot weather conditions.