Forest fires in Croatia under control

Firefighters working with police and army units say they have succeeded in bringing under control two large forest fires on Croatia's Dalmatian coast.

The fires, fanned by strong winds, destroyed a number of houses and up to 2,000 hectares of forest and scrubland near the coastal towns of Split and Sibenik.

Fires have also been raging in other parts of the region.

In Bulgaria, authorities have declared a state of emergency on the border with Greece, where they are trying to contain a fire which has already destroyed 5,000 hectares of forest.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service