The EU has provided to offer assist to France, which is battling a wildfire that was described by French Prime Minister François Bayrou as “a catastrophe of unprecedented scale.”
“Europe stands with France because the worst wildfires in its current historical past rage in Aude. My ideas are with the courageous firefighters as they battle the blaze,” European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.
“We’re able to mobilise rescEU assets to help efforts to convey the fires beneath management,” she added, referencing an EU program to offer catastrophe response assets.
A wildfire within the southern area of Aude has burned greater than 16,000 hectares of land — an space bigger than Paris — leaving one individual lifeless, 13 injured, and three reported lacking.
Greater than 2,000 firefighters are deployed within the space to sort out the blaze, which began Tuesday close to the village of La Ribaute. French Inside Minister Bruno Retailleau known as it the fireplace has destroyed “essentially the most hectares since 1949.”
Prime Minister François Bayrou known as the scenario “a catastrophe of unprecedented scale.”