A serious forest fire broke out in a mountainous area of northern China after a spell of prolonged high temperatures and dry conditions. Fires in the Daxing'anling prefecture, Inner Mongolia spread to over 5,000 hectares.
High winds and a dry spring contributed to perfect conditions for the fires which spread more than 7km, prompting over 1300 firefighters to be deployed in tackling the fires.
A change in wind forced the fire towards the southwest making firefighting efforts more difficult. Another fire in a national nature reserve spread to neighbouring Heilongjiang Province due to high winds.
In total over 4000 people have been deployed including forest police to assist in the operation.