Ankara, June 23 (IANS): Turkish authorities have brought under control an agricultural fire that killed 12 people and wounded 78 others in southeastern Turkey, the media reported.

The fire started on Thursday night as a stubble fire in cultivated areas spanning the Cinar district of Diyarbakir province and the Mazidagi district of Mardin province, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya's statement as reported by Xinhua news agency on Saturday.

Fueled by strong winds, the fire rapidly engulfed a large area before being brought under control by firefighters, said Yerlikaya on Friday.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the fire, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said on the social media platform X on Friday.

Deputy Interior Minister Munir Karaloglu said that a total of 15,100 decares (about 1,510 hectares) of land was affected by the fire.

More than 5,000 acres of land affected by the fire were unharvested barley and wheat fields, Karaloglu added.