500 people made homeless by bushfire in eastern Madagascar

Bushfire has made 500 people homeless in Manakara, eastern Madagascar, local official said Tuesday.

"Bushfire burned about 13 kilometers of the forest of vanilla and cloves as well as houses of locals," the parliament member from Manakara Benja Urbain Andriantsizehena told Xinhua.

"It took us almost a week to extinguish the fire, which occurred at the vanilla and clove forest," Andriantsizehena said.

Andriantsizehena called the government to help the victims as damage is worth around billions Ariary.

Farmers in Madagascar use bushfire just before the rain season to push the grass during the rain for feeding the cattle, but sometimes it causes undesired damages. Endit