Photos: Wildfires consume parts of Lebanon and Syria

Strong fires spread in different parts of Lebanon forcing some residents to flee their homes in the middle of the night as the flames reached residential areas in villages south of Beirut. Fire engines were overwhelmed by the flames in the Mount Lebanon region early Tuesday, forcing the Interior Ministry to send riot police engines equipped with water cannons to help. Two small aircraft were sent from the nearby Mediterranean island of Cyprus to help put out the fires. The cause of the flames, which has spread from woods south of Beirut up to pine forests in the north, remains unknown, though some officials have blamed an autumn heat wave that hit the country in recent days.

Updated on: Oct 16, 2019 4:33 PM IST

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Fire takes out forests in the mountainous area that flank Damour river near the village of Meshref in Lebanon’s Shouf mountains. Wildfires spread through parts of Lebanon on Tuesday after forcing some residents to flee their homes in the middle of the night, while others were stuck inside as the flames reached villages south of Beirut. (Joseph Eid / AFP)

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Vehicles lie on the side of a road, after they were burnt by fires near the town of Damour. The fires have left charred trees and burned-out cars and have overpowered Lebanon’s fire brigades, prompting appeals to neighhouring states to send aircraft to bolster efforts. (AFP)

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Lebanese firemen extinguish a fire inside a building that was burned in a wildfire overnight. A civil defence official said 104 fires had broken out over the past 24 hours, and that residents had been evacuated from homes and buildings to minimise the toll. (Hassan Ammar / AP)

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Fire crews were overwhelmed by the flames, forcing the Interior Ministry to send riot police with engines equipped with water cannons to help. Two small aircraft were sent from the nearby Mediterranean island of Cyprus to help put out the flames. The state has been widely criticized by residents because Lebanon bought three aircraft years ago to be used in extinguishing fires but they are parked at Beirut’s airport with no money to maintain them. (Aziz Taher / REUTERS)

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Burnt trees are seen after wildfires swept through Damour. In neighboring Syria, fires spread in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, as well as the central province of Homs, but authorities there brought all the fires under control. (Mohamed Azakir / REUTERS)

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Calcined trees stand in an ash-covered after the fire broke out. Lebanon’s Environment Minister Fadi Jreissati said at least one person had been killed. He called the situation “catastrophic.” The Red Cross said that 18 people have so far been hospitalised and 88 have received emergency medical care. (Joseph Eid / AFP)

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A heat wave in the region coupled with strong winds intensified the fires that began a day earlier in mostly pine forests around the country and three provinces in neighbouring Syria. (Joseph Eid / AFP)

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Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said an investigation would be opened and if arson were uncovered the perpetrators would “pay a price,” though he said the fires might be the result of climate change, which often brings weather drier and hotter than normal. (Joseph Eid / AFP)