Huge fire in the Turkish port of Iskenderun after the earthquake

UPDATE DAY

A huge fire that has spread to dozens of containers continues to burn Tuesday evening for the second consecutive day in the Turkish port of Iskenderun, in southern Turkey near the Syrian border, a consequence of the violent Monday's earthquake.

The images broadcast by Turkish television show a huge column of black, greasy and thick smoke above the colored containers, stowed on a quay of this port on the Mediterranean.

The disaster started late Monday afternoon and has been raging ever since: it apparently started when one of the containers overturned on the others under the effect of one of the many aftershocks of the initial earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.8.

Numerous attempts have been made since to try to extinguish the flames, Istanbul firefighters even came to the rescue, announced the mayor of the city. economic capital of the country, Ekrem Imamoglu.

The Turkish authorities have also dispatched a ship e coastguard with spears. But the flames continue to feed the black plume posing pollution risks.

In a press release, Sealand, a branch of the Danish shipping company Maersk, said on Tuesday that “the earthquake caused significant damage to logistics and transport infrastructure in the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras, the epicenter of the earthquake, including the port of Iskenderun” attached to the neighboring province of Hatay.

Sealand specifies that it is suspending all its operations from this port.

The province of Hatay, on the Syrian border, is one of the areas most affected by the earthquake which on Tuesday evening caused more than 7,000 dead in both countries, including 5,500 in Turkey