Paris, Aug 15 (IANS): Over 3,000 people have been evacuated after a violent wildfire broke out near Saint-Andre, a commune in the department of Pyrenees-Orientales in southern France.
The fire broke out at about 5.15 p.m. on Monday evening, Xinhua news agency quoted French news channel BFMTV as saying in a report citing the local fire department.
According to the local firemen, some 530 hectares of land have been burnt, resulting in the evacuation of more than 3,000 people nearby.
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday night, the prefect of the department Rodrigue Furcy said that the situation started to "improve", but the fire was "not completely" under control yet.
More than 500 firefighters have been deployed to contain the spread of the wildfire with the help of 13 planes and three helicopters, according to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.
In 2022, 72,000 hectares of land were burned in France.