PARIS, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Two firemen died in an overnight fire in Paris when the blazing multi-storey carpark they were fighting to put out collapsed on top of them, police said Saturday.

Matthieu Mercier, 23, was found dead on the scene and his body was removed from under three storeys of concrete debris on Saturday morning.

Ludovic Martin, 21, died in hospital of his injuries early on Saturday morning, despite nine hours of attempts to revive him.

Both were non-commissioned officers in the Paris fire brigade, which is a branch of the military.

CAPE TOWN, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - Two people died and about 2,000 lost their homes Sunday after five separate fires broke out in informal settlements around Cape Town, emergency services said.

Some 400 shacks were destroyed at Nonzamo to the east of South Africa's main tourist city, with over 1,800 people left destitute, said Cape Town emergency services head Greg Pillay.

At Wallacedene to the north, another 60 informal homes were razed and 200 people left homeless.

ATHENS, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - Disastrous fires that swept through southern Greece in August destroyed more than 97,000 hectares of forest, with about a third of it protected natural habitats, an environmental group said Thursday.

The fires in the Peloponnese peninsula south of Athens burned over 170,000 hectares (420,000 acres) overall, including agricultural land mostly covered in olive groves, a study compiled by WWF's Greek branch and scientists at Aristotelio University in northern Greece said.

BERLIN, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - German authorities on Tuesday abandoned an investigation against a German firm which made a heater believed to have sparked a ski train inferno in the Alps in 2000 that killed 155 people.

The state prosecutor in Heilbronn in southwestern Germany said he had dropped a manslaughter case against the directors of the company, Fakir, because of a lack of proof that the heater had contained a manufacturing flaw.

RIYADH, Sept 22, 2007 (AFP) - Ten members of a young Saudi family suffocated to death on Saturday when a fire broke out in their home in the capital Riyadh, the interior ministry said.

The blaze broke out in the morning while the residents slept in the house located in the southern Al-Faisaliyah district, ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki told AFP.

The fire apparently began in chairs containing sponge in the living room, sending thick smoke across the house, which did not have smoke detectors, he said.

ATHENS, Sept 22, 2007 (AFP) - A 49-year-old man injured in Greece's deadly forest fires succumbed to his injuries Saturday, taking the toll from last month's blazes to 67, local officials and hospital sources said.

The victim was badly burnt on the day the fires broke out, on August 24, as he tried to flee the Zacharo area with five others. They all died, and he was admitted to hospital in Athens with severe burns.

Most of the victims in the early days of the fire tragedy came from the area.

ATHENS, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - The Greek government has warned farmers in areas devastated by last month's wildfires to be extra careful in rebuilding their sheep and goat flocks to ensure high-quality production of Greece's renowned feta cheese, the semi-state Athens News Agency reported Thursday.

The agriculture ministry has impressed upon farmers in the Peloponnese peninsula south of Athens to only choose sheep and goats of Greek stock for fear of altering the composition of the soft briny cheese, ANA said.

LIVADAKI, GREECE, Sept 16, 2007 (AFP) - Their homes and farms in ashes after last month's catastrophic fires, Greek villagers voted in Sunday's general elections with their minds preoccupied by the prospect of a bleak winter.

'Our main concern is that those elected on Sunday will not forget us,' said Athanassios Korbas, a 50-year-old farmer who lost his house and his olive trees in the August fires which killed at least 66 and ravaged swathes of the country.

MOSCOW, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) - A fire that broke out on a Greek ship carrying nearly 600 Russian cars from the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk to Turkey was brought under control early Saturday, Interfax news agency reported.

Shortly before 6:30 am Moscow time (0230 GMT) the rescue ship Navigator approached the Greek ferry Sea Angel and the crew brought the blaze under control, Interfax quoted a local Russian ministry for emergency situations official as saying.

MOSCOW, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) - A fire broke out on a Greek ship carrying nearly 600 Russian cars from the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk to Turkey overnight Friday, Interfax news agency reported.

'The fire in the engine room broke out shortly before 11:00 pm Moscow time (1900 GMT),' the agency quoted the spokesman for the Russian ministry for emergency situations, Victor Beltsov, as saying.

The ship Ange de Mer flying the Maltese flag was between 40 and 45 kilometres (25 to 28 miles) southwest of the city.

ZACHARO, Greece, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - The smell of smoke still impregnates the air around Zacharo where dozens died in forest fires in August and the residents now have little time for politics ahead of Sunday's general election.

Of all the areas on the Peloponnese peninsula south of Athens, which bore the brunt of the two weeks of wildfires, Zacharo was worst hit.

KABUL, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Experts have in the last two months been able to extinguish 40 percent of an underground coal fire that has been burning in northern Afghanistan for more than a decade, the mining ministry said Monday.

An operation to put out the fire in the Dara-i-Suf coal mine was launched in early July and mainly involved sealing vents that supply oxygen to the fire, ministry spokesman Khoghman Ulumi told AFP.

The fire erupted due to natural accidents had devoured 'tens of tons' of coal in the past 10 years, Ulumi added.

SALONIKA, GREECE, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Sunday defended his government's handling of deadly fires that raged in Greece, in a bid to head off any political damage in next week's legislative elections.

'Greece has one of the largest airborne fire-fighting fleets in the world, but no fleet is enough when you're facing 100 fires simultaneously,' Karamanlis, who is seeking a fresh, four-year mandate, told a news conference in the northern city of Salonika.

SKOPJE, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - Two children died and 10 people were injured on Sunday in a fire that destroyed a home for handicapped children in eastern Macedonia, state media said.

The fire broke out early Sunday at the home housing around 60 handicapped children in Bansko, 170 kilometres (105 miles) southeast of Skopje, Macedonia's MIA news agency said.

The two children died from asphyxiation while 10 people including six children, two medical staff and two firemen suffered burns.

ZAGREB, Aug 30, 2007 (AFP) - A Croatian firefighter has died in a fire that destroyed some 500 hectares (1,235 acres) of forest on an island off the Adriatic coast, officials said Thursday.

Marinko Juric, 50, was among a group of firefighters trying to put out the fire on the southern island of Hvar when he suffered a fatal heart attack brought on by carbon dioxide poisoning.

The fire in a pine and brush forest was contained on Thursday, local firefighters said, adding that no houses or vehicles were destroyed.

TOKYO, Aug 30, 2007 (AFP) - Japan's transport ministry said Thursday it had found another plane with the same problem that was suspected of causing a Taiwanese jet to erupt into flames.

Inspections showed the Boeing 737 plane operated by domestic carrier Air Nippon was missing a washer, which fastens a bolt and a nut onto movable flaps called slats.

The problem was located in a different part of the slat than in the China Airlines plane that exploded, said an official at the transport ministry's aviation safety section.

TOKYO, Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) - Four cases similar to the problem that sent a Taiwanese jet bursting into flames in Japan have since been detected in other planes, officials said Wednesday.

The China Airlines Boeing 737-800 exploded into a fireball after landing on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa on August 20, only a few minutes after all 165 passengers and crew fled to safety, sliding down emergency chutes.

PYRGOS, Greece, Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) - When the flames came raging towards his village, farm worker Spyros Qosha dug a hole in the dirt to save himself from an inferno that has claimed 63 lives and left scores homeless in Greece.

With a drip on each arm and barely able to move from his burns, the 25-year-old Albanian recounted how he had cowered in the shallow hole as the fire swept over his head.

DUBAI, Aug 27, 2007 (AFP) - A fire broke out in a chemicals storage area at the Middle East's largest port -- Jebel Ali in Dubai -- on Monday, police in the United Arab Emirates said.

'The fire broke out in a chemicals company' in the free zone of the port, a police officer at the scene told AFP.

He said the fire was not near the quays of the port.

Thick black smoke was seen rising from the storage area, witnesses told AFP.

MOSCOW, Aug 26, 2007 (AFP) - A fire broke out at a major oil refinery in western Russia on Sunday and caused 100 tonnes of oil products to leak into the ground, reports said.

'The area of the fire is 200 square metres. There has also been a leak of 100 tonnes of oil products,' a spokesman for Russia's emergency situations ministry was quoted as saying.

Officials were later quoted as saying the fire had been put out.

KIEV, Aug 26, 2007 (AFP) - A man and a woman were found dead in Ukraine on Sunday after their car became engulfed in flames from a forest fire started accidentally by a stranded tourist, officials said.

The fire in the Crimea, a popular holiday destination on the Black Sea, was the latest in a series of blazes in Ukraine this summer, which have affected five other regions.

The tourist, who has been detained, lit a small fire on Friday to attract the attention of rescuers as he could not descend a mountain. Because of strong winds, the fire spread rapidly.

ATHENS, Aug 25, 2007 (AFP) - The death toll from Greece's wildfires climbed to 46 on Saturday, following the discovery of two more bodies in the hardest-hit part of the Peloponnese peninsula, the fire services said.

Speaking at a press conference, spokesman Nikos Diamandis said the latest victims were found in the region of Zacharo, on the west side of the Peloponnese, where 34 other bodies had been found since Friday.

ATHENS, Aug 25, 2007 (AFP) - The death toll from Greece's wildfires climbed to 44 Saturday, following the discovery of more bodies, officials said.

Authorities had revised the toll downwards to 40 from 41 when firemen reported finding four more bodies near the village of Leondari, in Arcadia, bringing the fatality figure for the past two days to 44.

At least seven of those killed were children, and many of the victims died on roads as they tried to escape the flames.

ATHENS, Aug 25, 2007 (AFP) - Greek firefighters on Saturday discovered another four bodies, taking the death toll to 41 in two violent fires raging in the south of the country.

The health ministry did not issue any details on the latest victims found near the village of Zacharo in the southwest Pelopponese.

ATHENS, Aug 25, 2007 (AFP) - The number of people who have died in two violent fires raging in the Peloponnese in southern Greece has risen to 27, after 10 bodies were found Saturday, firefighters said.

They warned the toll could rise further as firemen and soldiers began searching the affected zones at dawn for more victims.

The latest victims were found in 'cars, houses and in fields' in the area surrounding the village of Zacharo, in the southwest Peloponnese where 11 fatalities were discovered Friday, firefighters said.

ATHENS, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - Forest fires ravaged swathes of southern Europe Friday with blazes killing at least 17 people in Greece and prompting Athens to seek European aid, as an elderly man died in Italy and hundreds were evacuated from their homes.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, who Friday sought the help of the European Union to tackle the fires, described the situation as a 'tragedy without precedent.'

ATHENS, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - Forest fires ravaged swathes of southern Europe Friday with a series of blazes killing at least 16 people in Greece, while an 80-year-old man died in Italy and hundreds were evacuated from their homes.

Ten people, including three firefighters, died and about 10 were injured in a blaze that erupted in the afternoon in the Zacharo region in the western Peloponnese which spread rapidly, the emergency services said.

ATHENS, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - At least 16 people died Friday in fires that raged in Greece as Athens sought European help for dousing some 130 blazes across the the country's south.

Ten people, including three firefighters, died and about 10 were injured in a blaze that erupted in the afternoon in the Zacharo region in the western Peloponnese which spread rapidly, the emergency services said.

ROME, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - An 80-year-old man died in southern Italy on Friday from a brush fire he lit himself, while three people were hospitalised in Sicily for smoke inhalation resulting from a separate blaze, a report said.

Meanwhile, several hundred people were evacuated from villages in southern Italy overnight after fires swept through the region, media reports said, as police questioned four people for suspected arson.

ATHENS, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - At least 15 people died Friday in two forest fires that raged in the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, the fire services said, updating an earlier toll of six dead.

Six of the dead, including a seasonal firefighter, died in the morning amid one inferno near Areopoli in the Mani region, on the southern end of the Peloponnese, officials said.

ATHENS, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - Four people including a firefighter died Friday in a forest fire in the south of the Peloponnese in Greece, bringing the death toll to six, officials said.

Fire services said earlier that two others had died in the same area, near Areopoli in the Mani region, without identifying them.

The two and another couple were trapped near their hotel that had been evacuated.

The seasonal fireman died of a heart attack as he was fighting the flames. The sixth victim died in as yet unknown circumstances.

ATHENS, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - Two people died and another went missing in the south of the Peloponnese in Greece Friday after being trapped near their hotel by a forest fire, firefighters said.

The flames, fanned by strong winds, extended for several kilometres (miles) and reached the suburbs of Areopoli in the Mani region, the fire service said.

The region is located south of Mount Taygete, where a violent forest blaze broke out Thursday, threatening several villages.

ATHENS, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - Greek firefighters on Friday battled a violent forest blaze threatening several villages in the south of the Peloponnese.

'The situation is very difficult because the winds blowing in the region are very violent and hindering the work of firefighting planes,' a spokeswoman for the firefighters told AFP.

The fire service deployed around 100 fire trucks, two planes and three helicopters to help 65 firefighters there, she said.

ROME, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - Several hundred people were evacuated from villages in southern Italy overnight after fires swept through the region, media reports said Friday as police questioned four people for suspected arson.

Several villages in the Calabria region were threatened and about 100 clients were evacuated from a hotel in Sangineto, ANSA news agency said.

Firefighters were also battling blazes in the Messina region of the Italian island of Sicily, where three people died Wednesday when a bed-and-breakfast was ravaged by flames.

TAIPEI, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - Taiwan's China Airlines on Friday denied a report that it had ignored warning signals about a plane that burst into flames in Japan this week with 165 people on board.

The China Times had reported that a warning signal for one wing had appeared for two consecutive days but that the airline had simply replaced a sensor to 'solve' the problem.

The paper said the company ignored the warnings, which eventually led to the blaze on the runway in the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.

LISBON, Aug 23, 2007 (AFP) - Some 400 Portuguese firefighters aided by water planes and helicopters fought forest fires approaching the Sintra suburb of the capital Lisbon on Thursday, officials said.

The blaze broke out on Thursday morning and was fanned by winds of up to 50 kilometres (30 miles) per hour from different directions, causing the flames to advance on several fronts, emergency official Elisio Oliviera said.

NEW YORK, Aug 23, 2007 (AFP) - Two firefighters were injured Thursday when scaffolding collapsed at the Deutsche Bank skyscraper in New York's 'Ground Zero' where two others were killed in a fire last week, a fire department spokesman said.

'A scaffolding collapses at the Deutsche Bank. There are two firemen injured transferred to a hospital. No other people injured that we are aware at this time,' Chris Lynch told AFP.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 23, 2007 (AFP) - Some 25 inmates in a Brazil prison burned to death Thursday after prisoners set fire to mattresses in the jail during a clash between rival gangs, officials said.

The fire broke out during a dawn riot at the prison in Ponte Nova, some 180 kilometers (110 miles) southeast of the city of Belo Horizonte.

'We can confirm the death of 25 prisoners,' a spokesman for the Minas Gerais state told AFP.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 23, 2007 (AFP) - Some 25 inmates of a Brazil prison burned to death Thursday after prisoners set fire to mattresses in the jail during a clash between rival gangs, officials said.

The fire broke out during a dawn riot at the prison in Ponte Nova, some 180 kilometers (110 miles) southeast of the city of Belo Horizonte.

'We can confirm the death of 25 prisoners,' a spokesman for the Minas Gerais state told AFP.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 23, 2007 (AFP) - At least 20 inmates of a Brazil prison burned to death Thursday after mattresses in the jail were set on fire, the national TV channel Globo reported.

The fire broke out during a dawn dispute between inmates at the prison in Ponte Nova, some 180 kilometers (110 miles) southeast of the city of Belo Horizonte, the television said.