Portugal fires kill 43

RAGING forest fires in central Portugal have killed at least 43 people, many of them trapped in their cars as flames swept over a road, in what Prime Minister Antonio Costa yesterday called “the biggest tragedy of human life that we have known in years”.

Almost 60 people were injured, including four firefighters and a child.

The fatalities occurred in the Pedrogao Grande area, about 150km northeast of Lisbon, where about 700 firefighters have been trying to put out the fires since Saturday.

At least 16 people were killed when their vehicles were engulfed by flames between Figueiro dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera, and three others died from smoke inhalation in Figueiro dos Vinhos.

Thick smoke and bright flames towered over trees near houses in the wooded region.