The Turkish farmer Sercan Bayat stayed with his farm animals while wildfires broke out in his village Manavgat.
In a video filmed on Wednesday by Bayat, the 30-year old farmer can be heard shouting at his cows to run from the flames and praying to die rather than witness his animals burning. He lost eight of his animals.
After the fires, he found a newborn goat lying helpless but still breathing after his mother had been killed in the fires.
“Two or three hours after the flames were put out, I saw this one on the ground. He is our baby goat now. We called him Miracle,” Bayat told Reuters.
The massive forest fire in southern Turkey broke out on Wednesday. Satellite images showed smoke from the fires in Antalya and Mersin was extending to the island of Cyprus, around 150 km (100 miles) away.
Wildfires are common in southern Turkey in the hot summer months, but local authorities say the latest fires have covered a much bigger area.
“I am only worried about these animals. When our village was being evacuated, I couldn’t leave. I offered my parents to stay. I asked them: ‘If we die here, shall we die together with them?’ And they said yes,” Bayat said.
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