Italy's Mount Vesuvius closed to tourists over wildfire

Italian firefighters and the army on Sunday tackled a wildfire on the flanks of Mount Vesuvius, with all hiking routes up the volcano near Naples closed to tourists.

The national fire service said it had 12 teams on the ground and six Canadair planes fighting the blaze, which has torn through the national park in southern Italy since Friday.

"The fire-fighting continues ceaselessly on three fronts", the Campania Region said in a statement.

The army created a fire break and reinforcement firefighters were brought in from other areas of Italy, while onsite teams used drones to better monitor the spread of the fire, the region and fire service said.

The park's head Raffaele de Luca said the area affected covered some 500 hectares.

"For safety reasons and to facilitate firefighting and cl