A major mountain forest fire close to the tourist city of Chefchaouen in northern Morocco was spreading on Wednesday, according to media and witnesses who spoke to AFP.
The fire has officially been declared a “major” one, a source told AFP, adding that Canadair firefighting aircraft were working to contain the flames.
Details on the extent of the fire, damage, or any victims or evacuations were not available.
According to news site Le360, two Canadair planes were operating “despite strong winds” in Chefchaouen province, home to 400,000 people, including 50,000 in the provincial capital.
Le360 reported that the fire had devastated “vast” areas of woodland between Bab Taza and Derdara, and had caused significant damage to orchards and fields near Karankha, before spreading to a nearby forest.
Strong winds have been sweeping through northern Morocco for two days, fanning the flames.
“The situation is catastrophic… The extent of the material damage seems quite large,” Aziz Makhlouf, a resident of the province, told AFP by phone.
“I haven’t seen such a fire in about 15 years,” he said, adding that there had been significant efforts by the authorities to combat the fire.
Videos shared online showed a sky darkened by smoke, the glow of flames in the mountains and residents fighting against the fire with buckets of water.
Reports in Moroccan media and on social networks said that fires had also broken out near Tetouan and Tangier, two other tourist destinations in the north of the country, which has been gripped by persistent drought since 2018.
As with much of western and southern Europe, Morocco has been gripped by heatwaves this summer, compounded by the strong, hot desert winds known as chergui, which blow in from the Sahara.
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© Agence France-Presse
