Russian Emergencies Ministry names reason of Siberian wildfires

The key culprit behind Siberia’s raging blazes is carelessness when handling fire, the press service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry said.

"Air reconnaissance has shown that most wildfires are located along roads. This suggests that the main reason for the emergence of these wildfires is human carelessness while handling fire," TASS cited the press service as saying.

Earlier reports said that most of the blazes had been caused by hot weather, lack of precipitation and dry thunderstorms.