Fires, floods occur in many parts of the world

A series of fires have occurred in China, Algeria and Lebanon over the past few days, while the floods in Australia and Colombia have become more serious.

On December 5, a fire broke out and spread in a large grassland in the autonomous region of Tibetans in Sichuan Province, Southwest China, killing at least 22 people and three burns. heavy. It is estimated that 33.3 hectares of grasslands are burned, while another 13 hectares are still burning.

Flooding scene in Barlovento, Miranda state, 150km from Caracas to northeastern Venezuela, December 2. (Photo: AFP / VNA)

About 2,000 people participated in extinguishing the fire. Local officials said the fire started at noon the same day and was controlled around 3 pm. However, strong winds blew up the fire and inflicted fire on participants.

Sichuan Province President Jiang Feng went to the fire area and asked local officials to increase efforts to control the fire and limit the number of casualties. He also asked for an investigation into the cause of the fire.

The Algerian state news agency APS on the same day said at least three people were killed and six injured in a fire at Boustane hotel in Ouargla city, southern Algeria.

According to local officials, the fire completely destroyed the hotel and burned 14 cars parked outside the hotel. Among those injured are four who are in critical condition. It is likely that the number of casualties may increase as more people are buried under the rubble.

According to figures from the Lebanese Ministry of Defense, in December 4-5, there were about 120 fires in Lebanon, which damaged many houses. Lebanese President Michel Sleiman approached some of the affected areas.

Speaking at Fitri village, President Sleiman said the fires have delayed a series of domestic development projects; at the same time instructing the concerned agencies to try to control the fires.

Lebanese Interior Minister Ziad Baroud said he did not rule out the possibility of fires due to sabotage.

According to the VNA correspondent in Sydney, floods raged in Australia's state of New South Wales in the past days destroyed crops in the area, with estimated losses of up to $ 1 billion.

The New South Wales state government has declared many parts of the Southeast region a disaster area after rising river water flows into many towns, causing many highways to stop working.

State chief Kristina Keneally said a total of 34 areas are considered to be the worst disaster-hit areas in the past 36 years.

According to the New South Wales Emergency Service, about 3,000 houses are isolated and 1,500 people have been evacuated, while many remain trapped in the house. An elderly man died after his car was swept away by water. Forecast, heavy rain will continue in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the Colombian authorities said at least 50 people were missing due to a flood that occurred the same day at Bello in Antioquia state, bringing the total number of people killed and missing due to heavy rains and floods at 28 above. The total of 32 states of this South American country in recent weeks has increased to nearly 300 people.

According to the VNA correspondent in Argentina, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced that the government will declare a state of emergency to seek additional relief resources, and warned of worsening weather conditions in the winter. more.

Earlier, the Colombian government added $ 157 million to the budget to emergency aid to victims of unprecedented natural disasters in the country's history.

According to preliminary statistics, up to now, floods in Colombia have claimed 176 lives, nearly 100 missing, about 2 million people were affected and completely destroyed about 1,800 houses, damaging more than 256,080 other houses, flooding more than 120,000 hectares of crops.