Portugal is suffering from the largest fire in the last 50 years
On June 17, about 60 forest fires broke out in Portugal. As of June 19, 62 people were killed, including four children. Another 54 people were hospitalized. For Portugal, this is the largest fire in the last 50 years in terms of the number of human victims. According to Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, "the country has faced such a human tragedy, which has not been in the memory of the Portuguese people"
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The fire is raging in the municipalities of Pedrogan Grande, Figueiro dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera (Leiria district, historical region of Estremadura) 200 kilometers from Lisbon.
An emergency situation has been introduced in the village of Pedrogan Grande, there is no electricity there. Local residents are trying to leave the fire spreading area. The mayor of Pedrogan Grande, Valdemar Antunish, said that 95% of the forest in the village has burned down or continues to burn.
In one evening, more than 50 people were killed, and 30 of them burned alive in their cars — on the road connecting the cities of Figueiro dos Vinhos and Castanera di Pera.
The cars were driving through the forest, and when the trees on both sides of the road caught fire, it was too late to turn off. The bodies of 17 victims were found next to cars: apparently, people were trying to break through the forest on foot. Another 11 people were killed in the village of Pedrogan Grande.
The authorities reacted too late: all six routes leading to the fire trap were blocked only after dozens of cars managed to pass through them.
An investigation of what happened will be conducted: investigators will find out why the highways covered by fire were not blocked.
Now the skeletons of cars are being examined by rescuers, others are combing the part of the forest that was extinguished — it is possible that someone tried to escape from the fire, and perhaps there are more dead.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa called the lightning strike the cause of the fires: so-called dry thunderstorms took place in the country, when thunder and lightning are observed, but because of the high air temperature, the rain evaporates before reaching the ground.
In some areas of Portugal, a 40-degree heat wave has set in.
Now the fire is spreading at high speed, moving simultaneously from four directions. 1,500 firefighters are fighting it.
The mayor of one of the settlements told reporters that it is impossible to secure all the villages that are threatened by fire: there are not enough firefighters for this.
Portugal has already requested assistance from the leadership of the European Union — on June 18, Spain and France sent five firefighting aircraft to help.
The Russian Embassy in Portugal warned Russian tourists against visiting the areas engulfed by fire: "Due to extreme weather conditions, the red, highest, danger level is set for the districts of Lisbon, Santareg, Setubal and Braganza."
Three days of mourning have been declared in the country, exams in educational institutions have been canceled in three municipalities of the Leiria district.
These forest fires have become the largest for Portugal in the last half century. The last time the country faced such a disaster was in 1966, when 25 soldiers tried to extinguish large fires near Sintra.
Keywords: Forest fires | Fire | Firefighters | Portugal | Natural disaster