In Russia, eight people died in forest fires in the country's worst heatwave in decades. Officials today said at least two people died in the central Nizhny Novgorod region, and 550 houses burnt down. Five people, including one fireman, died in fires yesterday in the central Voronezh region, while 21 people were hospitalised and more than 500 were left homeless. The RIA Novosti news agency report said a fireman was killed today while fighting a fire in the Moscow region.The record-breaking heatwave has forced the agriculture ministry to declare emergency situations in 23 regions, with crops blighted by drought on around 10 million hectares of farming land.In Moscow, the temperatures hit 38.2 degrees celsius, the hottest recorded in the city since records began. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin today visited one of the worst hit areas to reassure angry residents. President Dmitry Medvedev asked the government to take urgent measures to organise the fire-fighting and to make funds available to rebuild the destroyed houses.