Updated on
Summary
Residents of villages in the Moscow region continued efforts to douse peat fires on Friday. In Shatura district, 180 kilometres south-east of Moscow, local residents helped firefighters flood water into peat bogs near their homes. They hope that a change in the weather might help them, but the forecasts are not promising. According to our meteorological data and forecasts there will be no rain in the near future, said Colonel Vitaly Simonov of the Emergencies Ministry. The situation is complex but stable, he added. Russia's worst heatwave since records began has set ablaze thousands of hectares (acres) of forest, killing 54 people and leaving thousands homeless. The Kremlin declared a state of emergency in several regions. Smouldering underground fires in dried-out peat bogs blanketed Moscow in smoke for much of last week, causing mortality rates to soar. Strong winds this week cleared the smoke, at least temporarily.
