Montenegro asks for international help to fight fires
Montenegro asked Monday for international help to fight wildfires in the Lustica peninsula on the country's Adriatic coast, while forest fires in neighbouring Croatia spread to suburbs of the coastal city of Split.
"The situation at Lustica is critical. The interior ministry of Montenegro asked for the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism" to be activated to help extinguish the fire, the government said in a statement.
Mayors of the threatened coastal towns of Kotor, Tivat and Herceg Novi urged the government to ask neighbouring nations -- Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia-- to send fire-extinguishing aircraft.
Fanned by strong winds, the forest fires forced the evacuation of more than a hundred campers.
Firefighters aided by the armed forces and volunteers have been battling the blazes since Sunday, boosted by police aircraft on Monday, the interior ministry said.
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Further north, wildfires on Monday evening spread to the suburbs of Split, Croatia's second largest city on the central Adriatic coast, where a shopping centre had to be evacuated and several cars were burned, local media reported.
The city waste dump was set on fire, HRT state-run television reported, while the town was covered with thick black smoke.
Some dozen wildfires were raging for the second consecutive day in the Split area villages, burning several houses, local media reported.
Some 400 firefighters were trying to fight the blaze, helped by more than 100 soldiers and firefighting planes.
"Current situation is apocalyptical, the blaze engulfed a large area, all is in smoke and fire," head of the Split county, Blazenko Boban, told reporters.
The cause of the fires is not known.