Madrid, Ramadan 12, 1437, June 17, 2016, SPA -- Nearly 700 people in eastern Spain were forced to evacuate due to forest fires, dpa quoted local media and officials as saying in Friday. Roughly 400 people were forced to leave their apartments near the port city of Valencia, emergency services said Friday. A hospital in Carcaixent, south of the Mediterranean metropolis, had to transfer more than 30 of its patients to other hospitals, while 250 students in the town of Sagunto left their school building due to dense smoke. According to state radio station RNE, four fires were in the region, so far destroying almost 3,000 hectares of forest area. The fire department has deployed more than 25 planes to fight the flames, while a special military unit also jumped in to help. The cause of the fires remains unclear, with officials not ruling out arson. "It can't be a coincidence that four forest fires brokes out in such a short amount of time," said local official Jorge Rodriguez. -- SPA 19:42 LOCAL TIME 16:42 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w