French firefighters on Wednesday continued to battle a wildfire in the Corbieres hills in southwestern France, inland from the Mediterranean coast, which has killed one person.
The fire in the southern Aude region has already swept through an area larger than the size of Paris, with authorities describing it as the largest in nearly 80 years.
What do we know about the fire?
The fire started in the town of Ribaute and has since spread over 15,000 hectares, the affected Aude department said.
“It’s a catastrophe of unprecedented scale,” Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said as he visited Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, adding that this was the biggest area to be burnt in a single fire since 1949.
“What is happening today is linked to global warming and linked to drought,” Bayrou added.
A woman in the village of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the city of Perpignan, died in the fire after she refused to evacuate her home.
Thirteen others were injured, including two seriously. Of those injured, nine are firefighters.
Some 2,000 firefighters were battling the blaze on Wednesday.
The fire was spreading very rapidly, leading to evacuations by some 1,500 residents and tourists from a resort and the closure of many roads.
How did the fire start?
The blaze started on Tuesday and has spread rapidly.
Authorities shut parts of the A9 motorway linking France to Spain on Tuesday.
The section between the cities of Perpignan and Narbonne in both directions has been affected, France’s fire agency and Aude department said on social media.
Late Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said on X the fire was progressing and that “all the nation’s resources were mobilized.”
“The fire is spreading very quickly because the weather conditions are unfavorable. It’s one of the driest areas in the department and the wind is strong,” Lucie Roesch, secretary general of Aude prefecture, told AFP news agency on Tuesday.
Firefighters were supported by water bomber planes, Aude prefecture said on X.
A video posted on X Tuesday afternoon by the French Fire Brigade showed flames roaring behind a village and the sky dark with smoke.
Edited by: Wesley Rahn, Srinivas Mazumdaru
