Italy's Mount Vesuvius closed to tourists as wildfire rages

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Rome (AFP) — Italian firefighters on Sunday tackled a wildfire on the flanks of Mount Vesuvius, with all hiking routes up the volcano near Naples closed to tourists.

The national fire service said it had 12 teams on the ground and six Canadair planes fighting the blaze, which has torn through the national park in southern Italy since Friday.

Reinforcement firefighters were on their way from other regions and the onsite teams were using drones to better monitor the spread of the fire, the service said on Telegram.

“For safety reasons and… to facilitate firefighting and cleanup operations in the affected areas, all activities along the Vesuvius National Park trail network are suspended until further notice,” the park said in a statement Saturday.

Nearly 620,000 people visited the volcano’s crater in 2024, according to the park.

The smoke from the fire could be seen from the Pompeii archeological site, which however remained open to tourists.

Experts say European countries are becoming ever more vulnerable to wildfires due to intensifying summer heatwaves linked to global warming.