Thousands of French firefighters and volunteers are continuing to tackle a vast wildfire that has torn through a large expanse of the country’s south, with the devastation now stretching across an area larger than Paris.
France’s Prime Minister François Bayrou called the vast wildfire a “catastrophe on an unprecedented scale”, with officials describing it as the largest in almost 80 years.
More than 2000 firefighters were called in to tackle the blaze, which began on Tuesday near the small village of La Ribaute. An elderly woman has died due to the fire, with 11 emergency responders injured while trying to hold back the flames.
However, after more than a day of trying to contain the fire in France’s Aude region, residents have been warned that the fire still poses a threat, with emergency teams failing to stabilize the spreading inferno.
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