Keyword: Fires

The massive fires that destroyed hundreds of hectares close to the Provençal town of Aix-en-Provence this weekend, cutting off roads and rail lines, are believed to have been cause by a discarded cigarette officials said, as soaring temperatures in southern France this week are keeping firefighters on alert.

Five children died overnight Saturday in a blaze during a visit to their divorced father, while three squatters perished in a blaze near Paris.