Breaking: State of emergency declared in Siberia with buildings destroyed, forests on fire

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The Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Alexander Uss, has announced a state of emergency as forest fires range out of control, destroying buildings and forcing people from their homes.

Government sources, speaking to news agency Lenta, said that the fires had been caused by broken wires due to the strong winds blowing through the region.

The warm dry winds, unusual for this area, are said to be gusting at over 100 km/h making it difficult for authorities to being the fires under control.

Several towns and villages have been evacuated in the Krasnodar, the Kurgan and Omsk regions – an area of nearly 350 square kilometres.

There has been significant damage to property with 30 buildings in the settlements of Novokursk and Nikolsk, and two sawmills, on fire.

A whole street in the village of Bely Yar, Achinsk has been burned to the ground, whilst 35 buildings are engulfed in flames in the village of Pavlovka, Bogotol district.

20 buildings are on fire in the SNT “Rodniki” of the Bolsheuluysky district.

The Krasnoyarsk Territory comprises half of the Siberian Federal District, Krasnoyarsk Krai. The area is the third largest subnational governing body by area in the world, covering 13 per cent of Russia and nearly one quarter the size of Canada.

Totalling nearly 2.4 million square kilometres, the area is not densely populated, with just 2.8 million people in a region that is covered by large forests.

The state of emergency declaration in Siberia comes after months after accusations that the authorities has been ignoring forest fires in the region.


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Written by

Peter McLaren-Kennedy

Originally from South Africa, Peter is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for the Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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