Marseille firefighters 'waging war' on wildfire at city's edge, mayor says

A thousand firefighters have been mobilised to battle a wildfire that has reached the outer edge of Marseille, France's second largest city.

"The marine firefighter battalion is waging guerrilla warfare, hoses in hand," said the city's Mayor Benoît Payan, referring to Marseille's fire and rescue service.

The prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhône area, Georges-François Leclerc, urged local residents to remain indoors and said firefighters were "defending" the city.

He said that while the situation was not static, it was "under control".

At least 400 people have been evacuated from their homes, according to French media. Nine firefighters are said to have been injured.

At its peak, the fire spread at a rate of 1.2km (0.7 miles) per minute, Payan said, according to French broadcaster BFMTV. This was due to a unique combination of wind gusts, dense vegetation and steep slopes.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who was on a state visit to the UK, expressed support for fire crews and called for residents to follow safety instructions.

"Our thoughts are with the injured and all residents," he wrote on X.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau was due to arrive in Marseille in the evening.

Marseille Provence airport has partially reopened after being closed since midday. Julien Coffinier, the airport's president, said he had "never experienced a situation of this magnitude".

Residents have been advised to stay inside, close shutters and doors, and keep roads clear for emergency services.

The fire, which broke out earlier on Tuesday near Pennes-Mirabeau, north of Marseille, is said to have covered about 700 hectares (7 sq km).

Local authorities said the blaze was sparked by a car that caught fire on the motorway, and that it could continue to spread as strong winds are set to blow until late this evening.

"It's very striking - apocalyptic even," Monique Baillard, a resident of the town, told Reuters news agency. She said many of her neighbours had already left.

Payan asked residents to remain "extremely vigilant" and to limit their movements.

Footage posted online showed huge plumes of smoke above Marseille as fire raged in a hilly area to its north.

The Bouches-du-Rhône area has not recorded a single drop of rain since 19 May, according to BFMTV.

Elsewhere in France, another wildfire that started near Narbonne on Monday remains active, fanned by winds of 60km/h (40mph). Some 2,000 hectares have burnt, local officials said.

Wildfires were also reported in other parts of Europe, including the Catalonia region of north-east Spain, where more than 18,000 people were ordered to stay at home because of a wildfire in the eastern province of Tarragona.

Emergency units were deployed alongside 300 firefighters as high winds overnight fanned the flames, which have spread across nearly 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of land.

Several other parts of Spain - which experienced its hottest June on record - were on high alert for wildfires.

In Greece, some 41 wildfires broke out across the country on Monday. Of those, 34 were contained early while seven remained active into Monday evening, according to the fire service.

Much of western and southern Europe was hit by a scorching early summer heatwave, sparking fires that saw thousands evacuated from their homes.