Tourists evacuated as France continues to battle biggest wildfire since 1949
One person has died, three are missing and two people including a firefighter are in critical condition, local authorities said.
Images showed plumes of smoke rising over the forest area in the region of Aude in southern France.
"As of now, the fire has not been brought under control," Christophe Magny, one of the officials leading the firefighting operation, told BFM TV. He added that he hoped the blaze could be contained later in the day.
The blaze, around 100 km from the border with Spain, not far from the Mediterranean Sea, began on Tuesday and has spread rapidly.
It has already swept through an area one-and-a-half times bigger than Paris. Officials have said it is France's biggest wildfire since 1949.
The fire is now advancing more slowly, Environment Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told France Info radio.
Villagers sought to help douse the flames or save their homes and small businesses, and described their alarm at the fire's speed.
Ash filled the air and coated windows and cars, and several roads were closed around the region.
"The sky was blue, and then less than an hour later the sky was orange," said Andy Pickup of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, at the heart of the fire zone.
"That's when we went out and tried to help."
"We heard pops and cracks — it was the trees, it was the village," he told The Associated Press.
"We could see the fires taking hold on all the hills around Saint-Laurent."
At dusk, he said, they saw fires in every direction, some as near as 100 meters (yards) away.
Three people were missing, the prefecture said.
A map of the area.
Jacques Piraux, mayor of the village of Jonquières, said all residents have been evacuated.
"It's a scene of sadness and desolation," he told broadcaster BFM TV after visiting there on Wednesday morning.
"It looks like a lunar landscape, everything is burned. More than half or three-quarters of the village has burned down. It's hellish."
Residents and tourists in nearby areas were requested to remain in their homes unless told to evacuate.
Two campgrounds were evacuated as a precaution.T
he prime minister met Wednesday afternoon with firefighters and residents at Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, where the fire service's command post has been set up. He said he came to express "national solidarity.
"The area's economy is relying on winery and tourism and "both sectors are affected," he stressed.
Bayrou said an investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the fire.
''We've lived here for 10 years and we've seen nothing like that," Pickup said. ''Consistently the summers are getting hotter, there is less and less rain, and that is a major problem."''We have been told the wind might come stronger tomorrow," he added.
Scientists say the Mediterranean region's hotter, drier summers put it at high risk of wildfires.
France's weather office has warned of a new heatwave starting in other parts of southern France on Friday and due to last several days.
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