Firefighters battle blazes in Southern France

Hundreds of firefighters used helicopters and planes equipped with fire retardant to battle wildfires that raged through 990 acres of forest in southern France today, authorities said.

Heavy winds of up to 45mph fuelled the fires north west of Marseille, said fire officials from the encompassing Bouches-du-Rhone region.

Some 300 residents from the hamlet of Vallon-de-Riaux were evacuated after a local fire crew lost one of its trucks to the blaze.