A fire is raging through a forest in northeast China and 500 soldiers are struggling to put it out, local authorities announced on Sunday.

 

The blaze was spotted on Saturday at two tree farms in the Greater Hinggan Mountains in Hulun Buir City of the? Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region , a spokesman with the city government said.

 

The cause has yet to be identified, the spokesman added.

 

The Greater Hinggan Mountains are now more vulnerable to forest fires as the dry autumn season sets in.

 

China suffered 7,002 forest fires in the first eight months of this year, which left 33 people dead, 73 injured and 380,000 hectares of forest damaged, statistics with the State Forestry Administration show.

 

The number of forest fires has dropped by 28.8 percent compared with the average over the same period in the last three years, and the number of casualties by 32.8 percent, but the area of forest damaged by fire has increased by 113 percent.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2006)