Japan forest fire engulfs 84 buildings, forces thousands to evacuate
Thousands of panicked residents have been forced to evacuate after a forest fire in northeastern Japan damaged buildings and prompted the mobilisation of military helicopters to extinguish the raging blaze.
Aerial footage from public broadcaster NHK showed a helicopter dropping water on one of the many locations in the forested areas of Ofunato city in Iwate prefecture in an attempt to put out the fire, it reported. Anadolu.
The fire has so far burned 84 buildings and forced about 2 residents to evacuate.
Rescue teams found a burned body in the area, while police are investigating a possible connection to the fire.
Ofunato City Mayor Kiyoshi Fuchigami described the fire as "wide-scale," noting that strong winds from the west helped spread a number of smaller fires in the same area.
So far, about 600 hectares of land have been burned.
Previously, a forest fire broke out in the city of Ofunato on February 19 and was largely extinguished by Tuesday.
A second fire broke out in the neighboring town of Rikuzentakata, but was brought under control by noon yesterday. The cause of the fire remains unknown.
Japan in 2023 recorded about 1.300 fires.
