At least 19 US firefighters have been killed battling a wildfire in central Arizona, local officials say.

They died while fighting the blaze threatening the town of Yarnell, about 80 miles (130km) north-west of Phoenix.

The fire was started by lightning on Friday and has spread rapidly to 2,000 acres (800 ha) amid high heat, low humidity and strong winds.

Arizona and other parts of the western US – including California – had near-record temperatures over the weekend.

It is the highest death toll for firefighters in a single incident since 9/11.

“We are heartbroken about what happened,” US President Barack Obama said in a press conference in Tanzania on Monday. Earlier he called the deceased firefighters heroes.

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