Four tourists have been killed by the fires. Authorities suspect arsonists. But forest fires are favoured by exceptionally dry and sunny weather this summer in France.

More forest fires broke out in southern France yesterday after firefighters had fought for 24 hours to control earlier blazes that raged across vast tracts of woodland killing four tourists.

Local authorities suspect arsonists of being behind some 30 devastating blazes that started late on Monday and shrouded the picturesque Provencal countryside in thick smoke, forcing thousands of holidaymakers to flee villas and camp sites.

A handful of new fires, fanned by gusts of powerful wind, were threatening new areas of forest. ?We feared more fires might break out, and they have. It?s catastrophic. We don?t know how we?re going to get through this,? Luc Jousse, mayor of Roquebrune-sur-Argens, told LCI television, adding : ?These fires are a new form of terrorism.?

TV pictures showed towering flames tearing through the countryside, lighting up the sky as the fires raged through an area stretching from the mountain town of Fayence to the beach resort of Sainte-Maxime, near Saint-Tropez and Cannes.

The badly burnt corpses of a teenage girl and her grandmother from the British town of Wigan were found near their burnt out car, just 100 metres away from their intact holiday home in the fire-razed mountain village of La Garde-Freinet.

Foul play

A Dutch woman and Polish man were also found dead, a spokesman for the local government in the Var region said.

There were scenes of panic as the flames, fanned by heavy winds, engulfed caravans, cars and electricity poles, forcing people to ditch their vehicles by the roadside. Some tourists were stranded, wearing nothing but their swimming suits. Entire families were trapped in their country cottages, as fires raged on all sides and set their cars alight.

?There has rarely been such a powerful blaze in the region,? said a spokesman for the regional emergency centre. President Jacques Chirac, on an official visit to French Polynesia, promised harsh punishment for the culprits.

?If some of the fires are of criminal origin and there is every reason to believe they are; the culprits will be pursued with extreme severity,? Chirac told a news conference. Justice Minister Dominique Perben said police in heavily wooded regions would start conducting systematic identification checks to discourage potential arsonists.

Ecological disaster

French Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy flew to the scene of what he described as an ?ecological disaster?. Italy and Russia lent helicopters and firefighters to help, while other reinforcements were rushed to the area from northwestern France.

The latest blazes destroyed more than 8,000 hectares of pine woods and took around 1,700 firefighters backed by 15 water-carrying planes and helicopters to control them.

A separate blaze on Monday on the nearby Mediterranean island of Corsica killed one man. Frejus Mayor, Elie Brun said he would file a criminal complaint to ensure an investigation into the Riviera disaster after firefighters found petrol bombs at the scene.

?It is quite difficult to explain how in the space of three hours you can have seven, eight or 10 different fires starting. It is obvious that there is a criminal cause,? Brun told LCI. Around 1,500 people were evacuated from Sainte-Maxime, where 100 homes were destroyed. Close to 4,000 holidaymakers were forced to leave their camp sites nearby.

Pierre Thebault