
Marseille wildfire that closed airport ‘receding'
Several fires have raged in recent days in the southern region, fanned by winds and kindled by parched vegetation, including Tuesday's just north of the port city of Marseille.
'The fire is clearly receding, it is no longer advancing,' Marseille firefighting chief Lionel Mathieu said.
The flames had swept through 750 hectares (1,800 acres) of land, affecting at least 70 homes of which 10 had been destroyed, but there had been no human casualties, Mathieu added.
Some 700 firefighters were on duty on Wednesday morning, with helicopters dumping water from the air to help their colleagues on the ground.
Local authorities said some 15,000 residents of Marseille's 16th district in the north of the city, hit by flames on Tuesday afternoon, were now allowed out of their homes.
But it was still too early for some 400 of them who were evacuated to return home.
The blaze had started in an area north of Marseille late Tuesday morning after a vehicle caught fire.
'There's every reason to believe that we're heading for a high-risk summer,' warned Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau on Tuesday evening at a press briefing with firefighters in Marseille.
In just a few hours, the fire had spread over 700 hectares, leading to the closure by mid-day of Marseille Provence airport, France's fourth-largest in terms of passenger numbers, located to the north of the city.
Traffic partly resumed around 19:30 GMT on Tuesday, but local authorities warned the airport could be closed again on Wednesday to allow for more airborne fire-fighting.
According to satellite images, the smoke plume stretched out to sea for around a hundred kilometres.
High-speed train traffic in Marseille resumed on Wednesday morning after a fire-related interruption, while local train traffic remains severely disrupted, railway operator SNCF announced.
Meanwhile, down the Mediterranean coast in an area near the city of Narbonne, firefighters fought to stamp out a blaze that had spread across 2,000 hectares since Monday.
The first major fires of the season broke out in France this weekend in several southern departments, causing heavy traffic jams in the middle of the start of summer holidays.
Scientists say human-induced climate change is increasing the intensity, length and frequency of extreme heat that fuels forest fires. – AFP

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Free Malaysia Today
36 minutes ago
- Free Malaysia Today
4 killed as heavy rain, flooding soaks northern China
Authorities have issued China's highest warning for floods in the capital Beijing. (EPA Images pic) MIYUN : Heavy rains that have soaked swathes of northern China killed four people and left eight missing today, state media said, as downpours forced thousands to evacuate across the capital city and surrounding areas. Authorities in Beijing have issued the country's second-highest warning for rainstorms and the highest for floods, with the downpours expected to last into tomorrow morning. In Hebei province, which encircles the capital, the heavy rains caused a landslide in a village near the city of Chengde, state broadcaster CCTV said. Four were killed and eight are still missing, it said, with the national emergency management department dispatching a team to inspect the 'severe' flooding in the province, where a further two died over the weekend. More than 4,600 people were evacuated over the weekend in Fuping County, while in neighbouring Shanxi province, one person was rescued and 13 were missing after a bus accident, state media said. Footage from the broadcaster showed roads in the province and a crop field submerged in rushing water yesterday. In Beijing, over 4,000 people in suburban Miyun district were evacuated due to torrential rains. 'I've never seen so much water before,' Cui Xueji, 67, a lifelong resident of Taishitun village in that district, told AFP. 'We did some preparations but we had no idea that there would be this much,' he said, wading through water in flip-flops with a tricycle loaded with pieces of wood to use as fuel. Nearby in the village of Mujiaya, AFP journalists saw a local reservoir release a torrent of water. Power lines had been swept away by muddy currents while military vehicles and ambulances ploughed through flooded streets. A river had burst its banks, sweeping away trees, while fields of crops were inundated with water. Some roads were badly damaged, with chunks of exposed concrete scattered across lanes and twisted guardrails lining their sides. The low-rise houses in the mountainous area, though mostly intact, were surrounded by gushing floods. Extreme weather China's national development and reform commission has allocated 50 million yuan to assist relief efforts in Hebei, with the funds going to post-disaster emergency recovery and construction of infrastructure, Xinhua news agency said. Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat waves. China is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases that scientists say drive climate change and contribute to making extreme weather more frequent and intense. But it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon-neutral by 2060. Flash floods in eastern China's Shandong province killed two people and left 10 missing this month. A landslide on a highway in Sichuan province this month also killed five people after it swept several cars down a mountainside.


The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
Turkey wildfires rage amid heatwave and strong winds
ISTANBUL: Firefighters are battling multiple wildfires across Turkey as the country endures an intense heatwave, officials confirmed. The blazes, fueled by strong winds, have claimed at least 14 lives and forced the evacuation of 19 villages. Over 3,500 people have been displaced as flames spread near Bursa, Karabük, and Kahramanmaras. Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli stated, 'Five fires have been brought under control in four provinces,' but efforts remain hindered by gusty conditions. Temperatures soared past 40°C last week, with Silopi near the Iraqi-Syrian border recording a historic 50.5°C. Yumakli admitted, 'Given the size and intensity of the fires, the state's ability to respond quickly to such disasters is sometimes limited.' A firefighter died of a heart attack on Saturday, while three others perished in a water tanker accident Sunday. Last Wednesday, 10 forest workers and rescuers lost their lives near Eskisehir. – AFP


New Straits Times
6 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Four killed as heavy rain, flooding soaks northern China
MIYUN, China: Heavy rains that have soaked swathes of northern China killed four people and left eight missing on Monday, state media said, as downpours forced thousands to evacuate across the capital city and surrounding areas. Authorities in Beijing have issued the country's second-highest warning for rainstorms and the highest for floods, with the downpours expected to last into Tuesday morning. In Hebei province, which encircles the capital, the heavy rains caused a landslide in a village near the city of Chengde, state broadcaster CCTV said. Four were killed and eight are still missing, it said, with the national emergency management department dispatching a team to inspect the "severe" flooding in the province, where a further two died over the weekend. More than 4,600 people were evacuated over the weekend in Fuping County, while in neighbouring Shanxi province, one person was rescued and 13 were missing after a bus accident, state media said. Footage from the broadcaster showed roads in the province and a crop field submerged in rushing water on Sunday. In Beijing, over 4,000 people in suburban Miyun district were evacuated due to torrential rains. "I've never seen so much water before," Cui Xueji, 67, a lifelong resident of Taishitun village in that district, told AFP. "We did some preparations but we had no idea that there would be this much," he said, wading through water in flip-flops with a tricycle loaded with pieces of wood to use as fuel. Nearby in the village of Mujiaya, AFP journalists saw a local reservoir release a torrent of water. Power lines had been swept away by muddy currents while military vehicles and ambulances ploughed through flooded streets. A river had burst its banks, sweeping away trees, while fields of crops were inundated with water. Some roads were badly damaged, with chunks of exposed concrete scattered across lanes and twisted guardrails lining their sides. The low-rise houses in the mountainous area, though mostly intact, were surrounded by gushing floods. China's National Development and Reform Commission has allocated 50 million yuan (US$7 million) to assist relief efforts in Hebei, with the funds going to post-disaster emergency recovery and construction of infrastructure, Xinhua news agency said. Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat waves. China is the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that scientists say drive climate change and contribute to making extreme weather more frequent and intense. But it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon-neutral by 2060. Flash floods in eastern China's Shandong province killed two people and left 10 missing this month. A landslide on a highway in Sichuan province this month also killed five people after it swept several cars down a mountainside.