Japan's worst wildfire in half a century continues unabated, with firefighting underway

ISTANBUL

Around 2,000 firefighters have been working from the air and ground to put out Japan's worst wildfire in half a century in the northeastern Iwate prefecture, local media reported on Tuesday.

The wildfire has burned around 2,600 hectares as of Tuesday morning, left one person dead, and forced nearly 4,000 people to evacuate out of the 4,600 advised to seek shelter by the authorities, according to the local English daily The Japan Times.

The raging fire in Ofunato city of Iwate has been going on for six days consuming over seven times the area of New York's Central Park by Tuesday.

Japan has not experienced a wildfire at this magnitude since 1975, when 2,700 hectares burned in Kushiro in the Hokkaido region.

"There is little concern that the fire will reach the (more densely populated) city area," a city official was quoted as saying, adding that authorities were doing their best to put it out.

The region had a record low rainfall this season and last summer was also the East Asian nation’s hottest on record.

A body believed to be that of a man was found on Thursday, while at least 80 buildings have been damaged due to the fire so far.