Mongolia warns of high risk of wildfires

ULAN BATOR, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia is now at high risk of forest and steppe fires amid the spring season's dry and windy weather, the National Emergency Management Agency warned Monday.

The warning came after 12 wildfires were registered across the country last week, with three steppe fires reported in the eastern Mongolian provinces of Dornod and Sukhbaatar on Sunday alone burning at least 80,000 hectares of grassland, according to the agency.

People's negligence was the main cause of the wildfires, it said, warning the public against making open fires or throwing cigarette butts on the ground.

Mongolia has a harsh continental climate, and its weather is usually dry and windy during the spring.