Smoke from a fast-moving wildfire in Marseille forced the closure of a major airport. Fires broke out in several places in Spain and France on Tuesday, after a heat wave swept across southern Europe. More than 110 people have been injured in the forest fires in Marseille, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said. The injuries are described as minor.
MARSEILLE JULY 9: Smoke from a fast-moving wildfire in Marseille, France forced the closure of a major airport and triggered evacuations as strong winds fueled the flames. Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan said the “violent fire” began in the nearby town of Les Pennes-Mirabeau before advancing to the “gates of Marseille” on Tuesday afternoon.
– “I ask all Marseille residents to be extremely vigilant and to limit their movements as much as possible to make way for emergency services, particularly in the north of the city,” Payan said.
Residents returned to their devastated homes on Wednesday after a wildfire on the fringes of Marseille destroyed or severely damaged dozens of houses and turned cars into blackened shells. More than 1,000 firefighters were needed to control the blaze that regional authorities said was still not completely out late Wednesday.
Fanned by winds and weeks without significant rainfall, 76 homes were left uninhabitable and dozens more damaged, the regional prefecture said. Some 750 hectares 1,800 acres) of land was turned to cinders.
Fires broke out in several places in Spain and France on Tuesday, after a heat wave swept across southern Europe. More than 110 people have been injured in the forest fires in Marseille, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said, according to several media outlets. The injuries are described as minor.
