Fires that raged through countryside near Marseille left a trail of destruction, but were no longer threatening the southern French city on Thursday, while another blaze erupted near the Spanish border, forcing dozens to evacuate.
In the Marseille area, about 500 people have fled their homes since Wednesday, as flames fanned by strong winds consumed more than 3,000 hectares of mainly scrubland and forest, and gutted several homes.
French President Francois Hollande said the authorities believe some of the fires were started deliberately and vowed that the perpetrators would be tracked down.
Photo: AP
In the Pyrenees region near the Spanish border, another fire erupted on Thursday, devastating 850 hectares and forcing the evacuation of 60 people from their homes, as the flames edged dangerously close to a village, police said.
“The police knocked on our doors and told us to leave and to turn off the gas,” said Annie, a resident of the village of Rodes who took shelter at the tourist information center nearby.
“The smoke was so thick that we couldn’t see the village, which is just a kilometer from here,” said Nathalie Dephino, an official at the center.
Five hundred firefighters have been deployed in the Pyrenees area, with reinforcements arriving from Spain.
The Portuguese holiday island of Madeira was also counting the cost after fires killed three people.
However, wildfires in Madeira’s picturesque capital, Funchal, which had turned the sky orange and forced foreign holidaymakers to be evacuated were brought under control overnight.
At the French port of Fos-sur-Mer northwest of Marseille, 800 hectares went up in flames on Wednesday, prompting fears for the safety of oil and chemical terminals.
The fire badly affected transportation by road and air on Wednesday, with two motorways closed and some flights canceled at Marseille airport.
The authorities said while Marseille was no longer in danger, they were taking no chances because strong winds could force the fires to spread again despite having remained relatively light on Thursday.
About 1,200 firefighters were still working to dampen smoldering areas of brush and trees, fire service Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolas Faure said, adding that he believed the danger was subsiding.
Police on Wednesday arrested a man near the town of Vitrolles on suspicion of starting one of the fires deliberately.
Hollande, speaking in his home region of Correze in central France, said: “Those responsible will be found and punished.”
On Madeira, where three people died, smoke still lingered on Thursday over the historic center of the city of Funchal, which had been shrouded in smoke and ash for three days.
A hotel overlooking Funchal was destroyed and more than 150 homes were left uninhabitable, officials said.
The mercury topped 38°C, the hottest temperature there since 1976, while winds gusted to 90kph, civil protection official Rubina Leal said.
About 1,000 people were initially evacuated, including many foreign tourists, and 400 people on Wednesday spent a second night at an army barracks.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa visited the island on Thursday in a bid to reassure tourists that the fires were now under control.
“It is time for us to move to the next stage — rebuild, get back to normal and re-establish confidence across the world in Madeira as a great tourist destination,” he said.
On the Portuguese mainland, about 1,800 firefighters were battling a dozen major forest fires that have raged since last weekend in the north of the country.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese