More than 100 people have been injured in a wildfire which has rapidly burnt 1,700 acres of land as it sped to the edge of Marseille, France’s second-largest city, reports The Times.
Several buildings were destroyed or damaged, while about 15,000 residents of Marseille’s 16th district, in the north of the city, were told not to leave their homes.
About 400 residents who had been evacuated had yet to return to their homes by Wednesday morning.
Benoit Payan, the city’s mayor, likened the scenes to “guerrilla warfare” as he called on locals to “exercise the utmost caution”.
Several incoming flights were diverted to other cities and some were cancelled. A motorway was closed and trains entering and leaving Marseille from the north and west were halted.
“I ask all Marseille residents to be extremely vigilant and limit their movements as much as possible to allow time for emergency services, particularly in the north of the city,” Payan wrote on X.
“The firefighter battalion is waging guerrilla warfare, hoses in hand. We have evacuated several dozen people.”
By Wednesday morning, Lionel Mathieu, the city’s firefighting chief, said the “fire is clearly receding, it is no longer advancing”. About 700 firefighters were still on duty, however, while helicopters dumped water from the air.
Martine Vassal, head of the area council, warned the wildfire was “not finished”, telling the broadcaster BFM: “Weather conditions are worrying for us.”
Nine firefighters were among 110 injured by the blaze, which was being fanned by winds of up to 40mph.
See more of this report, with video, from The Times.