A fire at a shop in Kırklareli, where thousands of people from Burgas stop to shop on their way to the border, shut the road to Bulgaria for about two hours.
The blaze started in a store on the ground floor of a three-storey building in the Doğu neighborhood. Strong wind pushed the flames up fast, and they reached the upper floors.
Firefighters, AFAD teams, police and medics rushed to the scene after the alarm went out. Firefighters got everyone out of the building, and there are no reports of anyone hurt. It took about three hours to bring the fire under control and put it out. Police sealed off the area, while some bystanders stayed to watch, some of them in tears.
Kırklareli deputy mayor Kürşad Yamaner and Tunçer Avcı, the AFAD provincial director for Kırklareli, came to the scene, checked the building and watched the crews at work.
A witness who was driving back from Turkey said nearly every tourist stops to shop at the store before crossing the Bulgarian-Turkish border. He said the flames swallowed the whole building and the damage is serious. He counted about ten firefighters and several fire engines, and said the thick black smoke could be seen for miles.
The building sits just a few kilometers from the border and is the last chance for travelers to buy Turkish goods before entering Bulgaria.
The road to Bulgaria reopened once crews finished their work. The cause of the fire has not been established, and an investigation is under way.