国际英语新闻：Wildfires in Russia become political issue

MOSCOW, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urged the heads of the fire-ravaged municipalities to quit as "they lost people's trust," local media reported on Friday.

Putin made his tough statement after more forest and peat bog fires started on Friday in central Russia, killing more than 20 people and destroying about 1,000 houses. The recent fires added another headache for the regional authorities which have been recuperating from the worst drought in 130 years.

"I recommend the resignation of the heads of the regions, who have to a significant degree lost people's trust," the prime minister was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.

Many residents of the fire-stricken region Nizhny Novgorod complained to Putin that the actions taken by the local authorities were "chaotic" and "uncoordinated."

In Nizhny Novgorod region, some 400 km east of Moscow, three villages of 664 houses in total have burnt to ashes and three more villages have burnt out in parts, leaving over 1,300 people homeless, RIA Novosti reported.

Thousands of residents have been evacuated so far from the areas threatened by fast spreading fires, the Emergencies Ministry said.

In Voronezh region, about 400 km south of Moscow, at least five people including a firefighter were killed and nearly 440 others hospitalized with burns.

In Vladimir region, over 70 houses were destroyed. Some 60 houses were burnt down in Moscow region.

In Ryazan region, four people were killed and 233 houses burnt, leaving 550 people homeless.

In Lipetsk oblast, two people died. Some 200 houses and several hundreds hectares of crops were destroyed by fire.

"According to the reports till 16:00 Moscow time (1200 GMT), the death toll from the wildfires in the Central Federal District and the Volga River region reached 25 people," a source with the Emergencies Ministry told the Itar-Tass news agency.