Wildfires haunt Brazil, the president called the government to an emergency meeting | News in brief

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva local time on Monday, called an emergency meeting of his government due to the drought ravaging Brazil and the resulting wildfires.

On Monday, fire crews battled flames in a nature reserve in the Brazilian region of the country’s capital. An area the size of 3,000 football fields has been destroyed in the area.

Brazil is experiencing its worst drought in seven decades, fueling massive wildfires in areas including the Amazon rainforest and Pantanal wetlands. It has been warned that the situation is likely to get worse.

According to the authorities, most of the fires have been set intentionally, but they have also been fueled by the drought.

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