Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-13 10:19:54|Editor: Liangyu

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TUNIS, July 12 (Xinhua) -- A series of wildfires ravaged several Tunisian forests as a heatwave has scorched the country, though no casualties were reported yet, authorities said Wednesday.

For more than three days, Tunisia has experienced an exceptional heatwave with a peak temperature of 47 degrees centigrade. The total fire-affected area has reached 830 hectares.

In the northeastern province Nabeul, civil protection units are still monitoring a fire triggered since Wednesday afternoon in the Abderrahmen mountain, according to Nazih Toumi, the administrative head of Manzel Bouzalfa, a town in the province.

"Apart from seven civil protection units and no less than 50 firefighters and forest agents, we are using a military helicopter in an attempt to get to the heart of the fire," he told local press.

In the province of Beja in northwestern Tunisia, the situation has turned for the better but a lack of access to the burned perimeter has hampered total control of the fire, according to local authorities.

The National Institute of Meteorology of Tunisia warned the public against any direct exposure to solar radiation.

The Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company Wednesday witnessed a record in electricity consumption, about 3,800 mega watts, the highest in its history.