Marseille - Hundreds of firefighters, backed by aircraft, helicopters and bulldozers, fought a series of forest fires yesterday that have ravaged parts of southeastern France, fire service officials said.
Two elderly people were found dead in the charred wake of a fire, which swept rapidly through 200 hectares of woodland near Marseille. "It seems to be a couple who were leading a life of self sufficiency, surrounded by animals, in a second World War bunker," a fire service official said. While in some areas the end-of-summer blazes appeared to be under control or out, the coastal fire flared mid-afternoon, forcing about 165 people to be evacuated from nearby housing estates and camping sites.