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by Will VASSILOPOULOS with John HADOULIS in Athens LESBOS, Greece (AFP) — Thousands of asylum-seekers were left homeless on Wednesday after a fire gutted Greece’s largest migrant camp on Lesbos, provoking an outpouring of sympathy from around Europe and calls for reform of the refugee system. A second fire on Wednesday evening aggravated the crisis on the island, where the authorities have declared a state of emergency. The first blaze, which began hours after 35 […]
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — People in San Francisco and elsewhere in California woke Wednesday to a deep orange sky that triggered apocalyptic visions in a year already rife with disturbing events. Skies so dark at times that it appeared more night than day were accompanied in some places with ash falling like snow, the cause being massive wild fires filling the air with smoke and cinders. “The orange skies this morning are a […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Hundreds of homes have been lost to massive and unprecedented Oregon wildfires with a potentially historic number of fatalities feared in the northwestern US state, governor Kate Brown said Wednesday. More than 300,000 acres are burning across Oregon including 35 major wildfires, with at least five towns “substantially destroyed” and mass evacuations taking place. “This could be the greatest loss of human lives and property due to wildfire in […]
by Josh EDELSON / with Andrew MARSZAL in Los Angeles TOLLHOUSE, United States (AFP) — Dangerous dry winds whipped up California’s record-breaking wildfires and ignited new blazes Tuesday, as hundreds were evacuated by helicopter and tens of thousands were plunged into darkness by power outages across the western United States. The arrival of strong gusts after the Labor Day weekend’s unprecedented temperatures saw most of California placed under severe weather warnings, with 14,000 firefighters battling […]
NORTH FORK, United States (AFP) — Wildfires in California have torched a record more than two million acres, the state fire department said Monday, as an uncontrolled blaze forced many residents to flee their homes. The record was hit as the wildfire season still has roughly two months to go in the most populous US state and as thousands of firefighters were battling flames during a scorching heat wave. “In the past 33 years […]
NARAYANGANJ, Bangladesh (AFP) — The death toll from a gas explosion that tore through a Bangladesh mosque has risen to 24, officials said Sunday, as rescuers described how survivors jumped into a nearby open sewer to escape the flames. Worshippers were at Friday evening prayers when the blast sent a ball of fire through the mosque in the central district of Narayanganj near the capital Dhaka, emergency services said. Eight more people — including […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — More than 200 people were airlifted to safety after being trapped by a fast-moving wildfire near a popular recreation area in northern California, officials said Sunday. The evacuees climbed aboard military helicopters after the blaze, in bone-dry conditions, cut off ground escape routes from Mammoth Pool Reservoir in the Sierra National Forest, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) northeast of Fresno. Flames moved in so fast that at one point […]
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — A suspected gas explosion tore through a Bangladesh mosque killing at least 12 people while dozens suffered life-threatening burns, police said Saturday. Worshippers were at Friday evening prayers when the blast sent a ball of flames through the mosque in the central district of Narayanganj, emergency services said. Investigators suspected a spark from an air conditioner — which came on after a power cut — set off the gas. “Leaked gas […]
KIEV, Ukraine (AFP) — One Ukrainian soldier died and two others were injured in forest fires in Ukraine’s eastern Lugansk region, near the front line of the country’s war with Moscow-backed separatists, authorities said Thursday. The soldiers were evacuating equipment and weapons from the blaze, Oleksandr Motuzanyk, a spokesman for the defense ministry told AFP. The fire spread over 500 hectares (1,235 acres) to the neighboring Kharkiv region, where about 20 houses were destroyed and […]
ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — One of Greece’s most important archaeological sites escaped serious damage after firefighters tamed a wildfire that lashed the surrounding countryside, officials said on Monday. The fire erupted at noon on Sunday near the ruins of Mycenae, one of the centres of ancient Greek civilisation, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) south-west of Athens, prompting the evacuation of visitors and staff. “The damage caused to the archaeological site was the least possible, as […]
by Jocelyne ZABLIT Agence France Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Thick smoke blanketed large areas of central and northern California on Friday as more people fled some of the biggest fires in the state’s history which have raged largely uncontrolled through the week. The largest group of fires, dubbed the LNU Lightning Complex, had scorched nearly 220,000 acres (89,000 hectares) and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents. By midday, […]
by Jocelyne ZABLIT Agence France Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Thousands of people fled their homes in northern California on Wednesday as hundreds of fast-moving wildfires spread across the region, burning houses and leading to the death of a helicopter pilot. In Vacaville — a city of about 100,000 people located between the state capital Sacramento and San Francisco — residents were urged to evacuate during the night as the wind-whipped flames […]
