Picture: QNA/ X
Tokyo: Firefighters in Japan have successfully contained a forest blaze that broke out in north of the country and was described as the largest in decades, after battling it for 11 days.
Officials said that since late April, hundreds of firefighters and more than 1,000 military personnel had been working to extinguish the flames, which scorched around 1,600 hectares in the mountainous Iwate Prefecture. The affected area is roughly five times the size of New York City's Central Park.
Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency stated that at least eight buildings were damaged, two people sustained minor injuries, and thousands were evacuated.
The city's mayor said the fire had been brought under control, crediting aerial and ground firefighting operations, along with heavy rainfall, for containing the blaze
This is the second largest forest fire in Japan in over 30 years. Increasingly dry winters have contributed to the rising risk of such fires.
