960414

Mongolian forest

fire threatens

thousand's lives

ULAN BATOR: A huge fire burning out of control on the Mongolian steppes and fanned by high winds has killed one nomad and is threatening the lives of thousands of others, Mongolian officials said on Sunday.

"The fire is expanding and we cannot stop it," the governor of northeastern Dornod Province, Batsukh, told Reuters.

The fire, which roared across the steppes from Russia last week, had burned through 1,600 sq km (618 sq miles) of forest and grassland, officials said.

Thousands of nomads had been forced to flee after fire destroyed their felt tents and animal shelters, officials said.

Hundreds of firefighters on foot and horseback were battling to control the blaze, which was being whipped by winds travelling at 15 to 17 metres (49 to 55 ft) per second.

One nomadic woman was killed over the weekend, officials said. Her husband was in a critical condition.

It was still unclear how many nomadic families were at risk, they said. About 6,000 nomads and their animals were scattered across the two affected counties, which covered 3,000 sq km (1,158 sq miles).

Mongolia's State Emergency Commission said on Sunday it would dispatch aircraft and parachutists to help fight the fire, which entered Mongolia from Russia last Tuesday on a five-km-long (three-mile) front.

Dornod Governor Batsukh said Russia should take responsibility for some of the losses caused by the fire.

"We are going to ask Russia to pay," he said.-Reuter