Airborne: Firefighters take to the sky to tackle forest blaze

A Canadair aeroplane drops water over a fire near houses in Castagniers, near Nice in the south of France.

The massive forest fire destroyed 800 hectares of land in the south of France at the weekend. More than 800 firefighters and 210 fire engines were brought in to tackle the blaze, which led to roads and footpaths being closed to the public.

Rail services between Paris and Marseilles were also disrupted.

Authorities believe the fire was stared by a carelessly discarded burning cigarette butt.

Meanwhile, Montenegro has asked for international help to fight wildfires that are also raging along the Adriatic sea coastline in neighbouring Croatia, authorities said yesterday.