Flights suspended and stay-at-home orders issued after wildfire erupts in France
With the fire approaching Marseille, the prefecture also advised residents in the northern area of the city to remain inside with doors and windows closed to prevent toxic smoke from entering their homes.
Live TV footage showed light smoke giving the sky over Marseille's old port a dusty aspect.
More than 700 firefighters were deployed to tackle the fire, which broke out near the town of Les Pennes-Mirabeau, with 350 hectares (865 acres) hit.
There have been no reports of casualties.
Marseille airport announced that the runway had been closed at around midday.
Sections of two major motorways were also closed to traffic.
Smoke rises during a wildfire near Marseille, southern France (SDIS13 fire brigade via AP)
French railway operator SNCF said the circulation of trains between Marseille and the Miramas-Aix high-speed TGV train station was stopped because of a fire nearing the tracks in L'Estaque, a pittoresque neighbourhood of Marseille.
As a safety measure, the city's Hospital Nord switched to generators 'due to micro power cuts'.
'The aim is to secure the imaging sector. We are not worried as we have a high level of autonomy,' the University Hospitals of Marseille said, adding that because of the disrupted traffic it asked workers to remain at their posts until the next teams starts its shift.
Several weeks of heatwaves combined with strong winds have increased the risk of wildfires in southern France, with several breaking out over the past couple of days.
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