Wildfire continues to spread in China's southern Sichuan province

By Emre Aytekin

BEIJING (AA) – The wildfire in the south of Sichuan province in southwest China continued to spread on Sunday, while nearly 3,400 people have so far been evacuated and relocated to safer areas.

The fire that started on Friday in the rural area of Yajiang County in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is still not under control, according to the Chinese media.

So far, 3,396 people from nearby villages have been evacuated, and communication with employees of the region's hydroelectric power plant could not be established.

The Emergency Ministry reported that the fire spread to mountain slopes on Saturday afternoon due to strong winds.

The ministry declared a level four emergency, and 1,260 firefighters from national and local departments were dispatched to the area to fight the fires.

Teams had to halt their operations overnight due to reduced visibility caused by strong winds, and it was reported that the fire had not yet been brought under control.

Earlier, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday that four people died in two separate forest fire incidents in southern Yunnan province.

A forest fire broke out Saturday near Douge, a village near Lincang, engulfing an area of about 5.33 hectares (13.17 acres) and killing three people, the news agency said.

Another person was killed in a separate forest fire near the city of Wenshan, also in Yunnan, on Friday.

Both fires have been extinguished.

*Alperen Aktas contributed to the story from Istanbul