In Japan, an out-of-control fire that has been blazing since yesterday in the city of Oita has forced more than 170 people to evacuate.
Firefighters are still battling the fire this morning, which has burned through a neighborhood in the southwestern city.
According to Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency, at least 170 homes have been damaged, and a man in his 70s is unaccounted for.
The fire started yesterday evening during strong winds near a fishing port in Oita and spread to a forest.
Footage showed crews desperately hosing down “ferocious flames” as they tore through homes on Tuesday night, while residents were moved to a makeshift evacuation centre.
Eyewitness accounts highlighted the terrifying speed and intensity of the fire. “The flames rose high, turning the sky red. The wind was strong. I never thought it would spread so much,” one man in the city on the southern island of Kyushu told the broadcaster NHK.
The massive blaze, which broke out late on Tuesday, has caused widespread devastation across the southern region of Japan.
Fire officials received an emergency call from a resident around 5:45 PM on Tuesday in Saganoseki, Oita City. The blaze has since grown so extensively that it remains uncontrolled, more than 12 hours after the initial call, NHK reported.