Spanish firemen struggle to contain blaze in Tarragona region

Madrid, May 17 (Xinhua-ANI): A fire raging out of control in the region of Tarragona in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia has destroyed around 2,400 hectares of countryside.

Firemen are working to control the blaze before it reaches the village of Tivenys, but are finding their task complicated by the rugged terrain in the area and the numerous small river valleys which are working as chimneys and funneling smoke skywards.

That in turn has made it impossible to use aircraft to attack the fire as a result of poor visibility.

Firemen have also had to deal with a strong wind, blowing off the Mediterranean sea, which has helped to fan the flames.

The fire provoked the evacuation of around 24 houses during the night and meant that several school busses were not able to follow their usual routes.

Catalan Interior Minister, Felip Puig advised on national television network, RTVE that the job of extinguishing the flames would not be over soon

"The fire will not be extinguished in the next few hours. We will have to carry on working," he said, highlighting the need to be able to use aircraft in the task.

Puig ruled out theories that the fire had been provoked by a faulty electricity cable and said that the cause was so far uncertain, but that an investigation would take place as soon as the flames were under control.

The region close to the town of Rasquera suffered a similar fire in 1995 when around 5,000 hectares were destroyed by fire.

Spain is bracing itself for a summer of wildfires following one of the dryest springs in the last 70 years. There have been rains since mid-April, but the undergrowth in many parts of the country is still dangerously dry. (Xinhua-ANI)