Sixty buildings burned down in southern Russia's forest fire

MOSCOW, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Forest fire burned down 60 buildings, including seven residential houses, in Russia's southern region of Rostov on Tuesday with no casualties reported so far, local media said.

The forest fire, which started Monday in the Ust-Donetsk forest area in the northeastern part of the Rostov region, spread to 136 hectares Tuesday morning, affecting three villages, a TASS report cited the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia as saying.

Residents have been evacuated, it said, adding that the Ministry of Emergency Situations has mobilized two fire-extinguishing aircraft, one helicopter, more than 300 firefighters and 90 pieces of equipment on the ground to battle the fire.