Tunisia firefighters battle forest blaze on Algeria border

Smoke rises above trees during a fire in a forest in Melloula amid soaring summer temperatures. (AFP)

A man sprays water on burned trees to cool them down following a fire, in a forest in Melloula near Tabarka at the north-western Tunisian border with Algeria. (AFP)

A man checks burned trees following a fire, in a forest in Melloula. (AFP)

• 1,100 acres of forest already burned as firefighters still fighting the flames

TABARKA: Firefighters in Tunisia are battling a major blaze that has raged for two days in a pine forest near the border with Algeria, a civil defense official said on Thursday.
Regional civil defense director Abdel Laabidi told AFP that around 470 hectares (1,100 acres) of forest had already burned, and that firefighters and an army helicopter were still fighting the flames.
He said a border crossing with Algeria had to close temporarily because of the outbreak.
Around a dozen families had been evacuated from the affected area near the Mediterranean resort of Tabarka east of the frontier.
The Malloula border crossing had been “closed temporarily” because of thick smoke from the fire causing visibility problems on the road to Algeria, Laabidi said.
Travelers were still able to cross the border at the Babouch crossing some 30 kilometers (18 miles) to the south, he said.
No injuries had been reported, Laabidi added.
Like many Mediterranean countries, Tunisia is going through a heat wave.
The North African country is experiencing temperatures of 6 to 10 degrees Celsius above the average for this time of year. A maximum of 47C was recorded on Thursday in the south of the country.