A Russian news agency reports that forest fires raging in central Russia left two people dead and 14 hospitalized. .
RIA Novosti reported that an 80-year old woman and a 77-year-old man died in the Volgograd region on Thursday. It says fires Thursday destroyed more than 100 houses.
The hottest summer since records began 130 years ago sparked some 30,000 fires in Russia, emergency officials and more than 50 people have died directly in the wildfires. More than 2,000 homes have been destroyed.
The number of fires has shrunk significantly after rains began in most of the affected regions, but the weather in the Volgograd region remains hot and dry
