An apocalyptic wildfire that blocked out the sun has left more than 110 people injured in Marseille.
The city’s airport was closed and roads were clogged with people trying to escape the flames that were being fuelled by 43mph winds.
Multiple buildings have been burned down in the inferno and hospitals have treated dozens of injured people,including nine firefighters.Wildfires have broken out in multiple locations across Europe,including in southern France,Spain and Greece.
For the latest travel advice in Marseille click here.
Mayor Benoit Payan urged people to stay in their homes and said relief centres had been set up in sport centres.
He wrote on X: ‘Stay safe,get to safety and avoid all unnecessary travel. A huge thank you to our firefighters and to all those who have been fighting this fire in hours.’
More than 1,000 firefighters were deployed to battle the fires,which covered over 1,800 acres – the equivalent of more than 1,000 football pitches.
A police officer stands near a fire as he helps local residents to extinguish it during a wildfire spreading in Marseille (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)
A police officer tries to put out the fire in a car during the wildfire (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)
This morning,he said the fire had been pushed back but was not entirely extinguished.
The fire is believed to have started when a car set alight on the side of a motorway.
President of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Martine Vassal said: ‘Given the strength of the wind,it jumped the highway and from then on,it was very difficult to control.’
People living in the area received an emergency message on their phones that said: ‘Avoid this area. Allow the security and emergency services to pass. Do not block emergency numbers.’
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People look on near the Plage des Corbieres,in Marseille,as smoke approaches (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)
Marins-Pompiers firefighters stand next to a truck and a National Police car in L’Estaque a district of Marseille (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)
Monique Baillard,a resident of Les Pennes-Mirabeau,described the scene as ‘very striking’ and ‘apocalyptic even’.
Traffic partly resumed around 7.30pm on Tuesday,but local authorities warned the airport could be closed again on Wednesday to allow for more airborne firefighting.
Flights were diverted to Nice,Nimes and other regional airports.
A post from Meteo-France on X shows the huge scale of the wildfire from satellite imagery.
It has warned that the risk of fires remains high along the Mediterranean coast in the coming days and urged people to remain vigilant.
French President Emmanuel Macron is in the UK but shared a message of support for those battling the fires.
In some areas of the city the smoke has completely blocked out the sky (Picture: Malik H via Reuters)
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