Ethiopian fires 'out of control'

International help is urgently needed to tackle bush fires raging in southern Ethiopia for the past three weeks, say international experts.

German and South African fire fighting assessors, who have just returned from visiting the fires, say that Ethiopia cannot tackle them alone.

According to the authorities two separate fires in Bale and Borena zones, 300 km south of the capital, Addis Ababa, have reached "unbearable proportions" and are now "completely uncontrollable".

Two major blazes have been raging in the south for three weeks

At a news conference in Addis Ababa, Johann Goldammer, who is heading the international fire emergency advisory group, said helicopters would be needed to water bomb the fires.

"The fire is burning in extremely inaccessible places and very steep terrain that cannot be reached by ground transport," he said

Approximately 70,000 ha of forest had been burnt to ash so far "and more will be destroyed unless urgent steps are taken to stop the conflagration", Dr Goldammer warned.

National park at risk

The fire in the Bale region is now encroaching on the Bale Mountains National Park - which is home to several of the world's rarest species including the Simien Fox, Mountain Nyala and Menelik's Bushbuck.