France and Spain race to control wildfires as suburbs of Bordeaux begin evacuation

French authorities evacuated thousands of people from ⁠suburbs near Bordeaux on Saturday as wildfires in areas around the ⁠city showed no ⁠signs ​of abating, the Reuters news agency reports.

Sophie Brocas, who heads the local administration of La Nouvelle-Aquitaine ⁠et de la Gironde, which covers the Bordeaux region, said on X ⁠that the areas of Le Haillan, Eysines ​and Merignac were being ‌cleared out.

French ‌Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that more ‌than 141,000 people had so far been evacuated from the Gironde and Landes regions which lie close to Bordeaux, and where the wildfires first broke out this week.

“The fires ‌which are hitting our country have reached a level that has never ​been seen before,” Lecornu wrote on X on Saturday. The French army has also been drafted in to help.