Forest fire reignites in northeast China mountains

BEIJING, May 2 (Reuters) A forest fire in a remote border region of northeast China flared anew today, hours after it had apparently been brought under control, Xinhua news agency reported.

Some 8,700 people and 10 helicopters were mobilised to battle the blaze in the Great Xingan Mountains, near the Russian border in Heilongjiang province, after the alarm was sounded today.

The fire appeared to have died down in the early hours of Wednesday, Xinhua said, but by the afternoon winds gusting up to 60 km per hour had revived the blaze.

Firefighters had remained in the area but forecasts for continuing strong winds would threaten their efforts to bring the fire under control, Xinhua said.

In 1987, a fire in the heavily forested mountain range killed at least 200 people and destroyed some 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of timberland in three weeks. It was China's worst blaze in decades.

In Inner Mongolia, meanwhile, about 90 firefighters were working to bring a second blaze under control, Xinhua said. It was unclear how much acreage had been lost to the flames.

REUTERS RS RAI2108