A massive grassland fire broke out at the Numrug Nature Reserve in eastern Mongolia, reportedly burning approximately 470,000 hectares, or about 80% of the entire reserve.
A massive grassland fire broke out at the Numrug Nature Reserve in eastern Mongolia, and approximately 80% of the nature reserve has burned to date. Local media report that the fire started when grass became entangled with a vehicle and caught fire.
Chinese-language media report that approximately 3,400 firefighters were dispatched to the Chinese side of the reserve, which borders China, to prevent the fire from spreading. The burned area is said to have reached approximately 470,000 hectares.
Mongolian media report that the vehicle carrying Mobicom's Japanese president and others caught fire, and that they had entered the nature reserve to go fishing. Mobicom's Japanese president commented that he deeply apologised for the damage to the natural environment.
In response to inquiries from JNN, KDDI said that the president and others had entered the nature reserve to conduct communications testing for a 4G network. KDDI also said it had confirmed that the border security authorities were notified in advance about entry into the border area.