Holidaymakers flee France wildfire

Friday, 16 Aug, 2023 0

More than 3,000 tourists were evacuated in southwest France after a fast moving wildfire damaged homes and threatened campsites.

The dry conditions and strong winds fueled flames that ripped through the villages of Saint-Andre, Sorede and Argeles in the Pyrenees-Orentales region near the Spanish border.

It took hundreds of firefighters to bring the blaze under control.

Several homes were damaged.

Train services between Perpignan and the Spanish border were temporarily halted.

Holidaymakers were moved from four campsites in the area with one of them ‘heavily impacted’ according to local news.

They were put up in temporary accommodation in public buildings.

Guests have now been allowed back into three of the campsites.

They have been warned to remain ‘extremely vigilant’ by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin with high temperatures to continue.

Samuel Moli, mayor of Saint-Andre, called the situation ‘catastrophic’ before the fire was contained.

The affected area is close to the beach resort of Argelès-sur-Mer.

The fire scorched about 500 hectares of land.

It was whipped up by winds of up to 80 km per hour.

TravelMole Editorial Team

Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.

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