Fire burns down Brazilian national park

Brasilia, Sep 21 (IANS/EFE) An area equivalent to 10,000 soccer fields has been wiped out in a massive wildfire in a national park here in the Brazilian capital.

Close to 42,000 hectares of the Brasilia National Park was destroyed in a forest fire that broke out during the weekend, according to the environment ministry.

“The fire destroyed in 24 hours what another fire in 2007 consumed in a week,” Col. Odilho of the Brasilia fire department said, describing the devastation caused by the blaze.

He, however, said the fire would be brought under control. Nearly 300 people have been working to put out the flames that in some places were 10 metres high, and that “spread quickly because of strong winds”.

–IANS/EFE