1 China grapples with forest blaze that killed 30 firefighters

1新华社：凉山发生森林火灾30名扑火人员牺牲

BEIJING, April 1 (Reuters)―Firefighters are struggling to douse a forest fire that broke out in the mountains of southwestern China at the weekend and killed 30 firefighters, state media said on Monday.

The fire broke out on Saturday in the Muli county of Sichuan province, perched at an altitude of more than 4000 m. (13,000 ft), with poor transport and communication links.

Images broadcast by state media showed flames and thick white smoke rising from a mountainside. It was not immediately clear whether there were any civilian casualties.

By Sunday afternoon, authorities had sent nearly 700 firefighters to put out the fire, but 30 of them went missing after a surge of flames fed by a sudden shift in the wind, state media said.

All the missing fighters were confirmed dead on Monday, state television said, adding that their bodies had been retrieved (Reporting by Lusha Zhang, Min Zhang and Se Young Lee; editing by Clarence Fernandez).

综合新华社4月1日电记者1日从应急管理部获悉，经全力搜救，四川凉山木里县森林火灾30名失联扑火人员已全部找到，27名森林消防队员和3名地方干部群众牺牲。四川省委省政府和应急管理部正全力指导开展火灾扑救、牺牲人员遗体辨认、家属慰问抚恤等工作。

3月31日下午，四川森林消防总队凉山州支队指战员和地方扑火队员共689人在海拔4000余米的原始森林展开扑救。扑火行动中，受风力风向突变影响，突发林火爆燃，瞬间形成巨大火球，在现场的扑火人员紧急避险，但27名森林消防指战员和3名地方扑火人员失联。

记者1日20时30分左右从四川省应急管理厅获悉，截至1日17时，木里森林火灾过火面积已达到15公顷左右，火势尚未得到控制，扑灭存在较大困难。据介绍，据初步掌握的情况，目前主要的扑救难点在于：一是火场最高海拔约3700米，海拔高，风大且方向不定，火势难控制；二是木里当地地形复杂，尤其是雅砻江沿岸一带山高坡陡，很多地方没有路，给灭火和搜救工作带来很大困难；三是当地森林腐殖层较厚，火不易打熄；四是山上取水非常困难。