Syria fights fires for fourth day as Jordan sends help

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00:00Fires have been raging for four days in western Syria.

00:05The UN says hundreds of families have had to evacuate their homes and that swaths of

00:09farmland and vital infrastructure have been destroyed.

00:14Authorities say that 80 teams have been deployed to fight the fires, fueled by high temperatures

00:18and strong winds.

00:20They're also working on rugged terrain littered with explosives, remnants from years of civil

00:25war.

00:26We have recorded a large number of fires put out, but there are still some hotspots,

00:35some of which are in a dangerous stage due to rough terrain and steep slopes.

00:40More importantly, these areas or hotspots contain unexploded ordnance and landmines.

00:46Nonetheless, fire and rescue teams made up of the Syrian civil defence and UN workers have

00:55been aided by neighbours.

00:58Jordan has sent firefighters and Turkey has deployed several trucks and two planes.

01:03Teams are also trying to prevent the blaze from spilling over into the Al-Franlak reserve

01:07with its large interconnected forests, reports Syria's national news agency.

01:13More than 20 teams and humanitarian organisations are currently present in the coastal countryside,

01:21creating a sense of social solidarity.

01:25Organisations have come from Aleppo, Homs, Damascus and even neighbouring countries like

01:30Turkey and Jordan to respond urgently, to extinguish and calm the fires.

01:38UN Deputy Envoy de Syria Najat Rashti has called on the international community to provide

01:42more aid to the country to address the blazes as it recovers from more than a decade of conflict.

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