Three people have died in the last 24 hours in fires in central and northern Morocco, one of them a volunteer working to extinguish a fire and two other women who refused to leave their homes when the flames broke out.
Local authorities in the different regions where the fires are occurring today reported the state of the fires, with three major outbreaks declared since yesterday in the northern provinces of Fahs Anjara and Larache and in the central province of Taounat, in the midst of a new heat wave affecting the Maghreb country.
In the latter, one person died on Monday and another was injured in the fire, which, according to the latest figures released last night, devastated 33 hectares in the Tessyana forest in the town of Ghafsai.
The two had volunteered to put out the fire, the authorities said.
In the province of Larache, fires have been raging since yesterday in the forests of Bouhazhem Jbel Alem, Menzla and Rmel, as well as four outbreaks in the communes of Tazourt and Beni Arouf.
In one of them, two women suffocated to death after staying in their homes and ignoring "the appeals of the local authorities and public forces about the need to leave their homes", the local authorities report without indicating the place where the events took place.
They did evacuate 500 families from ten villages in the Bouhazhem forest and another 36 from the Rmel forest (90% controlled). The Menzla fire is considered by the authorities to be contained and has affected 30 hectares.
The Fahs Anjara fire, near Tangier, broke out on Monday in the town of Oued Rmel and has so far burnt 35 hectares of cork oak and pine forest, with no casualties reported.
Canadair aircraft, civil protection personnel, the Water and Forestry Agency, local authorities, members of the Auxiliary Forces and the port of TangerMed, close to one of the fires, are taking part in the work to extinguish the fires.
These fires follow other fires that broke out on the 13th of this month, which lasted six days and left a total of 10,568 hectares of forest area burnt.
The fires occurred in the northern and northeastern provinces of Larache, Tetouan, Chefchaouen, Ouezzan and Taza and caused one death and the evacuation of 1,400 families.
Since Tuesday, Morocco has been suffering from a new heat wave in most regions of the country, with temperatures ranging from 41 to 47 degrees Celsius.
