LARACHE, Morocco, July 15, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Fires ravaging remote

mountain forests in northern Morocco have killed at least one person and
forced the evacuation of more than 1,000 families, officials said on Friday.

     Fanned by strong winds, the fires that broke out on Wednesday have
destroyed 1,600 hectares (nearly 4,000 acres) of woodland in the provinces of
Larache, Ouezzane, Taza and Tetouan, the authorities said.

     "The body of a person suffering from multiple burns has been found" amid
one of the blazes in the Larache region, the authorities said in a statement.

     The rapid spread of the fires forced 1,100 families to flee some 15
villages in Larache, while about another 645 residents were evacuated in the
provinces of Taza and Tetouan.

     Four Canadair planes were deployed by the army to water bomb the fires.

     They were joined by hundreds of personnel from the civil protection
service and water and forest department, as well as soldiers, police and
volunteers.

     One fire had been extinguished and another was under control in Larache,
according to authorities in the province.

     The North African nation, which is struggling under intense droughts,
has in recent days been hit by soaring temperatures approaching 45 degrees
Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).

     On the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar, fires are also raging in
southern Europe, from Spain and Portugal to France and Greece.