politics
Wildfires Force Evacuation of Nearly 3,000 Tourists in Southern France
Nearly 3,000 tourists left holiday areas in southern France after wildfires broke out in multiple regions. The fires followed record heat and strong winds that complicated containment efforts.
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Nearly 3,000 tourists were evacuated from Mediterranean holiday areas in southern France after wildfires broke out in several regions, GB News reported. The largest fires spread across the Aude and Herault departments while a separate blaze that started in Sainte-Marie-la-Mer reached Canet-en-Roussillon near the Spanish border.
Images from Canet-en-Roussillon showed warehouses and a yacht on fire beneath a thick plume of smoke over the beach.
Two firefighters were injured while fighting the flames in the Pyrenees-Orientales region, according to regional official Pierre Regnault de La Mothe. Emergency services contained two wildfires on the outskirts of Marseille on Thursday. " Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said around 1,200 firefighters had been mobilized.
He reported nearly 900 hectares burned in Herault and Aude, 260 hectares in Lancon-Provence, and three blazes near Marseille that scorched 1,210 hectares. Winds reached 60 km/h inland and 90 km/h along the coast. Nunez added that 8,700 hectares have burned across France this wildfire season, including 1,200 hectares on Wednesday.
The fires occurred days after temperatures reached 43C during a record heatwave.
