HANOI, May 6, 2002 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Forest fires raged again in U Minh Thuong National Park of southern province Kien Giang and in U Minh Ha forest in the southern tip province Ca Mau of Vietnam.
The fires broke out at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday in an area of 1, 200 hectares (ha) of 1-5 year-old cajeput trees and nearby areas, according to a report of Vietnam News Agency on Monday.
According to preliminary statistics, at least tens of thousands of hectares of cajeput forests were ruined after the first day.
More than 600 fire fighters including army, police and local people have been mobilized to combat the blazes in the U Minh forests.
The fires, however, have not been extinguished because of drought, high temperature and strong winds.
Last month, the biggest ever forest fires destroyed about 2,460 of more than 8,000 hectares of the U Minh Thuong National Park and around 4,000 ha of cajeput trees in the U Minh Ha forest.
Copyright 2002 XINHUA NEWS AGENCY.
Copyright (c) 2002 Comtex News Network
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 05/06/2002 03:40:34