Flames are ravaging southern France. The prime minister calls it "an unprecedented catastrophe."

French Prime Minister François Bayrou met with firefighters and residents in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, where a fire command post has been set up to deal with the massive forest fire that has hit the Aude region. The blaze, the largest to break out in France this summer, quickly spread near the Spanish border, killing one person. The flames have burned an area larger than Paris.