Latest news Forest fire in southern Italy: vacation village evacuated

An entire vacation village with around a thousand vacationers has been evacuated due to a serious forest fire in southern Italy. The people were evacuated from the Baia San Felice resort near the small town of Vieste on the Adriatic coast because the flames were getting dangerously close.

The fire department was deployed with numerous units. Fire-fighting aircraft were used in an attempt to contain the fires from the air - but initially without much success. Arson is suspected.

According to the authorities, the flames were driven towards the vacation village by strong winds. The holidaymakers were accommodated in two other tourist facilities nearby. In addition, the municipal administration of Vieste opened the local school gymnasium so that the tourists had a roof over their heads. Many of them are children.

It has been regularly over 30 degrees in the south of Italy for many days now. There has hardly been any rain in recent weeks. The mayor of Vieste, Giuseppe Nobiletti, expressed the suspicion on the Rai television station that the fire was caused by arson. "This was the fifth attempt in a week, and this morning they did it," he said.