Firefighters are battling raging blazes at both ends of California, but there is little hope of containing the flames anytime soon.

More than 250,000 people have been ordered to evacuate a wide area near the state capital Sacramento and, in southern California, the Hollywood resort town of Malibu.

In the town of Paradise, in Butte County, rescuers removed remains over a period of several hours and placed them in a black hearse. Pieces of bodies were transported by bucket, while intact remains were carried in body bags.

So far, all the dead have been reported in Paradise, where more than 6,700 buildings — most of them residences — have been consumed by the late-season inferno.

US President Donald Trump put the death toll at 11 on Saturday evening — a count that seemed set to rise with bodies being recovered in Paradise.

“Our hearts are with those fighting the fires, the 52,000 who have evacuated, and the families of the 11 who have died,” Trump tweeted.

From miles around, acrid smoke could be seen in the sky around Paradise, the sun barely visible. On the ground, cars were reduced to metal carcasses, while power lines were also gnawed by the flames.

Locals fled the danger, but police told AFP some farmers returned to check on their cattle.

“The magnitude of destruction we have seen is really unbelievable and heartbreaking, and our hearts go to everybody who has been affected by this,” said Mark Ghilarducci, the director of the California Office of Emergency Services.

Governor-elect Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to provide assistance to the hardest-hit areas in the fire-prone state.

The fast-moving blaze in the north, which authorities have named the “Camp Fire,” broke out early Thursday.

Fanned by strong winds, it has so far scorched 100,000 acres (40,500 hectares) and is 20 percent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said Saturday. So far, three of the more than 3,200 firefighters deployed have been injured.

They estimate they will need three weeks to fully contain the blaze.

Local power authorities have told state officials an outage occurred near the spot where the fire erupted, The Sacramento Bee reported, but there is still no official cause of the Camp blaze.

Trump, who was in France for World War I commemorations, drew criticism online for his somewhat unsympathetic reaction to the devastation earlier on Saturday.

“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” Trump tweeted.

“Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!”

– Malibu mansions in flames –

In southern California, more wildfires burned, including one just north of Los Angeles and another in Ventura County near Thousand Oaks, where a Marine Corps veteran shot dead 12 people in a country music bar on Wednesday.

Authorities said some 200,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders, including the entire city of Malibu.

The “Woolsey Fire” had consumed around 69,000 acres, destroyed at least 150 homes and was so far not contained, the Ventura County Fire Department said, adding that evacuation orders were issued for some 88,000 homes in the county and neighboring Los Angeles County.

“We heard this was coming so we set up the sprinklers and we hosed the whole house down,” said Malibu resident Patrick Henry. “We pretty much had enough time to get the dogs in the trunk.”

Malibu is one of the most in-demand locations in California for stars seeking privacy and luxury.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West, who lives just north of coastal Malibu, revealed she was forced to flee her home.

“I heard the flames have hit our property at our home in Hidden Hills but now are more contained and have stopped at the moment,” she said on Twitter. “I just pray the winds are in our favor.”

Actor Martin Sheen, briefly reported missing by his actor son Charlie, was also forced to evacuate.

“We’re fine, we’re at Zuma Beach and we’re probably going to sleep in the car tonight,” Martin Sheen told Fox News 11, adding that it was the worst fire he had seen in 48 years of living in Malibu.

The wildfire reached Paramount Ranch, destroying the Western Town sets used for hundreds of productions including HBO’S sci-fi western “Westworld,” officials and the network said.

Director Guillermo del Toro tweeted that Bleak House, his museum of horror movie memorabilia, was also in the path of the flames.

– Utter devastation –

In Paradise, the flames destroyed hundreds of homes, a hospital, a gas station, several restaurants and numerous vehicles, officials said.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for more than 52,000 people in the scenic area in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

“The whole lower side of Paradise is totally engulfed in flames right now,” Kevin Winstead, a resident of nearby Magalia, told KIEM TV.

“Not one home will be left standing,” he said. “I’m devastated.”

The National Weather Service said Saturday strong winds and dry conditions were to continue through the weekend.

More than 250,000 people have been ordered to evacuate a wide area near the state capital Sacramento and, in southern California, the Hollywood resort town of Malibu.

So far, all nine fatalities were reported in the town of Paradise, in Butte County, where more than 6,700 buildings — most of them residences — have been consumed by the late-season inferno, which is now California’s most destructive fire on record.

From miles around, acrid smoke could be seen in the sky around Paradise, the sun barely visible. On the ground, cars were reduced to metal carcasses, while power lines were also gnawed by the flames.

Locals fled the danger, but police told AFP some farmers returned to check on their cattle.

“The magnitude of destruction we have seen is really unbelievable and heartbreaking, and our hearts go to everybody who has been affected by this,” said Mark Ghilarducci, the director of the California Office of Emergency Services.

Governor-elect Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to provide assistance to the hardest-hit areas in the fire-prone state.

The fast-moving blaze in the north, which authorities have named the “Camp Fire,” broke out early Thursday.

Fanned by strong winds, it has so far scorched 100,000 acres (40,500 hectares) and is 20 percent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said Saturday. So far, three of the more than 3,200 firefighters deployed have been injured.

They estimate they will need three weeks to fully contain the blaze.

Butte County Sheriff Korey Honea said four people were found dead inside a vehicle in the Paradise area, while another was found nearby. Three more were found outside a residence, and one inside a house. Dozens of other people were reported missing.

Local power authorities have told state officials an outage occurred near the spot where the fire erupted, The Sacramento Bee reported, but there is still no official cause of the Camp blaze.

President Donald Trump, who was in France for World War I commemorations, drew criticism online for his somewhat unsympathetic reaction to the devastation.

“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” Trump tweeted Saturday.

“Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!”

– Malibu mansions in flames –

In southern California, more wildfires burned, including one just north of Los Angeles and another in Ventura County near Thousand Oaks, where a Marine Corps veteran shot dead 12 people in a country music bar on Wednesday.

Authorities said some 200,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders, including the entire city of Malibu.

The “Woolsey Fire” had consumed around 69,000 acres, destroyed at least 150 homes and was so far not contained, the Ventura County Fire Department said, adding that evacuation orders were issued for some 88,000 homes in the county and neighboring Los Angeles County.

“We heard this was coming so we set up the sprinklers and we hosed the whole house down,” said Malibu resident Patrick Henry. “We pretty much had enough time to get the dogs in the trunk.”

Malibu is one of the most in-demand locations in California for stars seeking privacy and luxury.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West, who lives just north of coastal Malibu, revealed she was forced to flee her home.

“I heard the flames have hit our property at our home in Hidden Hills but now are more contained and have stopped at the moment,” she said on Twitter. “I just pray the winds are in our favor.”

Actor Martin Sheen, briefly reported missing by his actor son Charlie, was also forced to evacuate.

“We’re fine, we’re at Zuma Beach and we’re probably going to sleep in the car tonight,” Martin Sheen told Fox News 11, adding that it was the worst fire he had seen in 48 years of living in Malibu.

The wildfire reached Paramount Ranch, destroying the Western Town sets used for hundreds of productions including HBO’S sci-fi western “Westworld,” officials and the network said.

Director Guillermo del Toro tweeted that Bleak House, his museum of horror movie memorabilia, was also in the path of the flames.

– Utter devastation –

In Paradise, the flames destroyed hundreds of homes, a hospital, a gas station, several restaurants and numerous vehicles, officials said.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for more than 52,000 people in the scenic area in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

“The whole lower side of Paradise is totally engulfed in flames right now,” Kevin Winstead, a resident of nearby Magalia, told KIEM TV.

“Not one home will be left standing,” he said. “I’m devastated.”

The National Weather Service said Saturday strong winds and dry conditions were to continue through the weekend.

The fresh diplomatic row started after a Bangladesh border guard official said that a 15-year-old Rohingya refugee was shot in the elbow on November 4 while grazing cows after multiple rounds were fired from a security post across the demarcation line.

Bangladesh summoned Myanmar’s ambassador to lodge a protest but Aung San Suu Kyi’s government says it has looked into the allegation and denies it ever happened.

“The Myanmar ambassador promptly contacted the responsible officials from the Myanmar Border Guard, who confirmed that no shooting incident had taken place,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is overseen by Suu Kyi, said in a statement late Saturday.

Myanmar says it was involved in coordinated patrols at the time of the alleged incident with Bangladeshi forces along the Naf River that separates the two countries, and that none of their counterparts mentioned the claim.

“A formal protest through diplomatic channels based on dubious reports, as took place in this case, does not serve any useful purpose,” the ministry added.

The contentious back and forth highlights the delicacy surrounding a planned start to the first official repatriation of Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar, which is supposed to start November 15 with over 2,000 people at a rate of 150 daily.

Some 720,000 Rohingya fled their homes in Myanmar to take refuge in Bangladesh following a sweeping and bloody crackdown on the Muslim minority in August 2017.

United Nations investigators say Myanmar’s military should be investigated for genocide as a result of the campaign, which witnesses say included scorched earth tactics, rape and murder.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed to repatriate Rohingya expelled in the recent military campaign, but they fear returning to a country without guarantees of citizenship, safety and basic rights.

Northern Rakhine has been undergoing massive redevelopment in their absence and Rohingya advocates say the process amounts to an effort to erase their history for good.

The UN, which has been granted access to parts of Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state where most Rohingya used to live, says conditions are not right for the stateless minority to return.

A total of 42 aid agencies and NGOS said this week that Rohingya in the camps in Bangladesh were “terrified” about the prospect of coming back.

Some 196 bags containing body parts have been recovered from under the water with 79 victims identified and handed over to their families for burial.

“Since yesterday afternoon until today we have not found any more victims and therefore I declare the search and rescue operation is over,” Muhammad Syaugi, head of the search and rescue agency, told reporters Saturday.

“We apologise to the public, especially the families of victims if during the operation we were not able to satisfy everybody,” he added.

Rescuers have also retrieved parts of the plane’s engines, wheels and seats from the sea. One diver died helping with search.

Lion Air has begun paying $102,058 compensation money for each passenger to the grieving families.

Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee has retrieved one of the black boxes — the flight data recorder — and is still hunting for the cockpit voice recorder, which recorded the last conversation between the pilot and co-pilot before the crash.

The doomed jet was a Boeing 737-Max 8, one of the world’s newest and most advanced commercial passenger planes, and there is still no answer as to what caused the crash.

The government has ordered a check on all Boeing 737-Max 8 fleets and conducted a special audit on Lion Air management.

The transportation ministry has also removed several executives and technical staff from the airline to help with the accident investigation.

The Lion Air plane plunged into the Java Sea on October 29 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang city.

All 189 people on board were killed and the data from the flight recorder data has so far revealed the plane’s air speed indicator had not been working properly on its last four journeys, including on the fatal flight.

Following the fatal crash, Boeing issued a special bulletin on how to deal with the erroneous Angle of Attack sensor alert in 737-8 and -9 airplanes.

The 37-year-old suspect had also raised his voice at the police personnel.

Sibu OCPD Asst Comm Stanley Jonathan Ringgit said that the two officers were on duty controlling traffic at the Sibu Airport at about 5.35pm on Friday (Nov 9) when they saw a car parked at a non-designated parking area.

They then issued a summon which was placed on the car windscreen and walked away.

Seeing this, the two officers instructed him to follow them to the airport police pondok. ACP Stanley said the man refused and put up a strong resistance instead.

The suspect was then arrested under Section 186 and 509 of the Penal Code for obstructing a public servant in discharging his duty.

They cordially discussed matters related to the recent developments on peace and reconciliation process, improvements in concern with Rakhine State and China’s continued provision of constructive assistance in Myanmar’s endeavours, said the announcement.

Sun Guoxiang held separate meetings with Peace Commission Chairman Dr Tin Myo Win, Union Minister Kyaw Tint Swe, Vice Chair of National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) and Kyaw Tin, Union Minister for International Cooperation.

Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing also received Sun Guoxiang at the Parlour of Bayintnaung Villa in Nay Pyi Taw on November 8, announced the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services.

Both sides cordially discussed and exchanged views on China’s assistance and cooperation in Myanmar’s peace process, The Tatmadaw’s ongoing efforts in accord with the six peace principles on peace for achieving eternal peace, Chinese support for efforts of the government and Tatmadaw in the international arena regarding the Rakhine State issue and strengthening of the relations between the two countries and the two armed forces by ensuing border peace and stability, the announcement said.

Chinese government is involved in the peace process in Myanmar and had assigned Sun Guoxiang to negotiate between Myanmar government and northern ethnic armed groups.

Aung San Suu Kyi also received Song Tao, Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China at her residence in Nay Pyi Taw on November 6.

Mandalay Region Chief Minister Dr Zaw Myint Maung, Peace Commission Chair Dr Tin Myo Win and Chinese Ambassador for Myanmar Hong Liang attended the meeting. However exact details of the meeting are not announced.

The State Counsellor’s Office announced the State Counsellor held a dinner for Song Tao as well.

Many people miss out on this fantastic experience because the climb to the top is not easy and Lao visitors in particular are likely to dismiss the idea, as hiking is not among their preferred leisure activities.

But the view makes the effort worthwhile and word has spread of its magnificence. And if you find yourself in Vangvieng, in the midst of majestic scenery, there’s not much excuse for not including this trek in your itinerary, especially when the rewards are so satisfying.

There are many viewpoints in this area and some have a shelter, and maybe a flag at the top to indicate someone’s visit.

Last month I myself made the trek up to Phadeng, which is perhaps the most well-known of the viewpoints and is located in Ban Phonngeun, about 10 kilometres from the main town of Vangvieng.

We made the trip in the afternoon as we wanted to arrive at the top in time to wait around for the sunset.

A sign and the information provided in the village indicate that the hill is 400 metres high, but it took our group of fit young people about an hour to reach the top.

I couldn’t believe how much energy I expended during the trek. It was the most exhausted I’ve ever felt in my life.

I almost gave up because I felt that it would soon be dark even though it was only about 3pm.  We were walking in the shadow of the hill and through big trees. I wondered if I would have enough energy to walk back but my friends wanted to continue even though they were older than me. But they were really fit.

We made the climb slowly and stopped along the way to sit on a rock and admire the view. Fortunately we had brought insect spray, and enough water to quench our thirst.

We encountered other hikers and asked how much longer it would take us. They smiled and assured us it was not much further.

Then I could hear the voices of people talking but I wasn’t sure how far away they were. But I looked up and saw a hut not that far from us, which meant we were almost there.

When we were close to the peak we found some flowers growing in the rock. They were mauve and very pretty. One of my friends was tempted to touch and pick them but she said flowers were beautiful only when they were left in their natural surroundings.

We took another short break because there were more flowers along the path that engaged our attention but in less than 10 minutes we finally reached the top.

There was a hut with a vendor selling drinks and snacks. I asked for a cold Coca-Cola and talked to the young vendor even though I was still rather breathless, as I was curious to know how she got there.

I struggled to take in what I saw when I looked down over Vangvieng. The scene below me was like a painting, with farms, villages and forests outlined in delicate detail.

I went ahead to another hut and sat down. The breeze caressed my body and face. I breathed in deeply and after a minute I forgot the enormous effort it taken to reach this fabulous spot.

I looked around and saw other people brandishing their smartphones and cameras, taking selfies, photos and videos of the view.

We stayed there for a while until the vendors advised us to head back down as it would soon be getting dark.

We weren’t able to catch the sunset as it was obscured by a hill but we watched the sky turn red as the sun turned the clouds to flames and burnished the landscape with copper.

The descent was easy and we didn’t have to struggle. In less than 30 minutes we were back at our car.

Now I’m thinking of going back but this time I think I’ll go much earlier so I can watch the sunrise, as the locals say that’s the most beautiful time there.