About 60 hectares of eucalyptus were reduced into ashes when a fire swept a forest at Nyaruganda in the province of Rutana, some 200 km southeast of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, a forestry official told Xinhua in a phone interview on Wednesday.

The fire whose origin is still being investigated broke out inside a forest of eucalyptus at Nyaruganda village around 19:00 (17:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

"It was burning until today (Wednesday) morning and was completely put off thanks to the intervention of residents and security forces," said Philippe Ntineshwa, Inspector of Forests in the province of Rutana.

Ntineshwa said that at least 60 hectares of eucalyptus were completely burned.

He indicated that since July, at least 200 hectares of forests were devastated by fire in the province of Rutana.

In Burundi, every year forests are the target of cattle grazers who set fire on them in search of pastures for their cattle during the dry season from June to August.