Czech firefighters extinguish national park blaze near German border

A wildfire that had been raging on both sides of the Czech-German border and tearing through national parks has been extinguished on the Czech side.
The Czech emergency services said on Friday that they had handed management of the affected area back to the administration of the Bohemian Switzerland National Park.
The fire initially started on the Czech side of the border then spread into the German area known as Saxon Switzerland, where thevwildfire is only gradually easing.
The fire broke out on the Czech side of the border on July 34 and burned for 20 days over an area of up to 1,060 hectares, according to CTK news agency.
Other nations rallied to help Czech efforts to contain the blaze, with Italy and Sweden sending fire-fighting planes, while helicopters were sent from Slovakia, Poland and Germany.
In total, more than 6000 firefighters were involved in the operation over the period that the fire was burning. Some 72 firefighters are to remain on site for the time being to check for any remaining pockets of embers.