At least 15 killed in wildfires in southern Russia

At least 15 people were killed and over 120 others were injured in wildfires sweeping through Russia's southern Siberian Republic of Khakassia, local authorities said Monday.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations said 78 people, including three children, have been hospitalized and 40 villages have been affected by the wildfires with over 1,000 homes destroyed, adding that 90 makeshift camps have been set up for survivors.

The fires also razed dozens of farms and agricultural facilities, killing some 4,000 heads of cattle.

The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin has been updated on the incident and is "personally coordinating the rescue work and other emergency services."

Viktor Zimin, head of the republic's government, said the damage caused by the fires was tentatively estimated at 5 billion rubles (about 95 million U.S. dollars), adding that as least several months will be needed for the recovery.

The ministry said that over 1.1 billion rubles (21 million U.S. dollars) will be allocated to compensate the regions affected by the fires.

Results of preliminary investigation showed the fires had been caused by reckless forest burning in the dry and windy weather. According to the Investigative Committee, investigations into the incident are underway.

As winter is nearly over, people begin to burn grass to cultivate land, which makes it possible for fires to rampage through agricultural land and pastures or even damage buildings and cause casualties, said the minister. Endi