Forest fires which have raged for days in Russia's far east is threatening residents of the city of Khabarovsk with severe carbon monoxide poisoning, local doctors say.
A thick blanket of toxic smoke settled over the area as hundreds of volunteer and professional fire-fighters battled blazes in thousands of hectares of woods and peat-bogs in the Khabarovsk region, north of Vladivostok near the Chinese border.
Doctors advised the city's 600,000 residents to stay indoors and keep windows closed to avoid breathing in fumes thick with nitrogen and carbon monoxide. Parents were advised to take children out of the area.
Russian television showed people covering their mouths and noses as they made their way through the town centre in the grey smog. Fires had reached some suburbs with TV reports of dachas (weekend homes) burning.
Local doctors warned pregnant mothers that a further week of contamination could lead to miscarriages, still-born babies or deformed births, NTV television said.
Mr Mikhail Kolesnikov, head of the regional Emergencies Commission, said many of the fires were believed to have been caused by arson. "We want to find those guilty of starting this," he said in a televised press conference.
Khabarovsk airport was closed yesterday after thick smoke reduced runway visibility. Aircraft were redirected to Vladivostok and nearby aerodromes.