More than 700 people are struggling to put out a fire that has been raging in a mountain forest since Wednesday afternoon near a scenic city in Yunnan province, local authorities said.

The fire started around 1:10 p.m. in pines and shrubs on Mt. Laoyingshan on the outskirts of Lijiang, a renowned tourist destination, said Lin Xiangdong, director of the Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Prevention Headquarters Office.

A lingering drought has made extinguishing the fire more difficult, Lin said.

It is currently unclear how many areas of forest are ablaze.

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