Moscow: A Russian Emergencies Ministry official on Sunday said dozens of homes had burned in fires in the Khakassia Republic in Russia’s remote southern Siberian region. Wildfires have been raging in the republic, engulfing houses in flames and choking the air with smoke.
Wildfire in Khakassia Republic in Russia has caused enormous damages
Video posted to a social media website showed scorched trees alongside a roadway and flames lapping from windows of one-story houses.
More than 20 villages and towns were engulfed by the fires from the grass burning as dry and windy weather has set in, the ministry said. According to Russian news agency TASS, four people have died in the fires.
More than 1,000 firefighters have been tackling the fire, and two planes and a helicopter were deployed. But the head of the ministry’s crisis center in the Khakassia Republic said strong winds were hampering the fire fight.
Greenpeace activists have said that the practice of grass burning cases in Russia increased in recent years for many reasons, including rising temperatures.
Ventuno