A wildfire killed a bedridden man who was home alone in Turkey's western Izmir province after it spread to a residential area, state-owned Anadolu news agency said on Thursday, the first casualty after nearly a week of scattered blazes.

Turkiye has evacuated more than fifty thousand residents from forty settlements in and around its western province of Izmir since wildfires triggered by soaring temperatures broke out on Sunday. Turkiye's Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli told reporters that the blaze was fanned overnight by winds in Kuyucak and Doganbey areas of Izmir.

Izmir’s airport suspends flights, and authorities evacuate residents as strong winds fan blaze in the western province.