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Thousands of hectares of forest destroyed by fire in Cuba

13 August 2010 04:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. All together 5,711 hectares of forest in Cuba have been burnt down by fires from January to May, said official sources here on Thursday, APA reports quoting news.xinhuanet.com website.

Economic losses inflicted by these forest fires are estimated at 7.6 million pesos (8.2 million U.S. dollars), according to the sources.

Raul Gonzalez, chief of the Cuban national ranger corps, said the fires were mainly caused by "human actions, such as use of fire as an agricultural tool to clean land, negligence of smokers and sparks from vehicles and agricultural machinery."

Besides human errors, Cuban officials from the National Fire Department said risk of forest fires was increased by deficient rainfall in the months known as the drought season.

The drought also had an impact on Cuban agriculture and led to water rationing in Cuba.