A forest fire of unprecedented proportions raging in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park in the Czech Republic continues to grow despite the efforts of firefighters, local officials said today, quoted by BTA.

The fire has engulfed an area of ​​nearly 1,000 hectares as the difficult terrain made it difficult to contain, an emergency services spokeswoman told Czech national television.

The fire broke out last week in the Czech national park and spread on Monday across the German border into Germany's Saxon Switzerland National Park.

A large fire is raging in a German national park

Fire crews continue to find new smoldering outbreaks in the park.

Nearly 750 firefighters are battling the blaze after additional forces were brought in from across the Czech Republic.

They were assisted by six helicopters and five firefighting planes, which joined the fight once the morning fog cleared.

So far, eight firefighters have been injured in the fight, several of them seriously.

"This shows that we are indeed making progress through dangerous terrain," the spokeswoman said.

Some parts of the forest area are difficult to access, including the areas along the Czech-German border, she said.

Currently, hiking in the Czech national park is prohibited, and the police turned away three tourists who wanted to visit the sandstone rock formations.

This forest fire is considered one of the largest in the country's history and is believed to have been caused by human negligence, DPA said.

Czech Republic

Fire extinguishing