Forest fires kill dozens in Russia

Forest fires sweeping across parts of Russia today killed at least 25 people and forced the evacuation of thousands in the hottest…

Forest fires sweeping across parts of Russia today killed at least 25 people and forced the evacuation of thousands in the hottest summer weather since records began 130 years ago.

Fanned by strong winds, raging fires spread through woods and fields that have been scorched for weeks by a heatwave, incinerating hundreds of wooden houses.

“We don't know where to go," said Galina Shibanova (52) standing outside her burning family home in the town of Maslovka in the Voronezh region, about 500 km south of Moscow.

“We called the emergency services, and not one person answered the phone," said Ms Shibanova, a gold crucifix around her neck reflecting the nearby flames.

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Health minister Tatyana Golikova said 439 people had been injured in Voronezh alone,  43 of whom were in hospital in a serious condition.

Russia has been sweltering since June from a heatwave that has destroyed crops and pushed thousands of farmers to the verge of bankruptcy. Drought in some regions of Russia, one of the world's biggest wheat exporters, has sent global prices soaring to year highs in July, putting US wheat futures on track for their biggest monthly gain since 1973.

The emergencies ministry said 238,000 people have been deployed to fighting peat and forest fires across 866 square km, an area slightly smaller than Co Dublin.

Prime minister Vladimir Putin cancelled meetings in Moscow to fly to the Nizhny Novgorod region, where at least 540 homes were destroyed.

Reuters