IN PORTUGAL’S ‘BIGGEST TRAGEDY’
Blaze engulfs cars while terrified locals flee for their lives
RAGING forest fires sparked by a lightning strike have killed 62 people in Portugal.
Many of those killed died while trapped in their cars as huge flames swept over a road.
Announcing three days of national mourning, prime minister Antonio Costa described the inferno as the biggest tragedy the country has experienced in years.
A lightning strike is believed to have sparked the initial blaze in the Pedrogao Grande area after investigators found a tree that was hit during a “dry thunderstorm”.
Such storms happen when falling water evaporates before reaching the ground because of high temperatures.
Temperatures have soared to 40C in recent days in the affected area, about 95 miles north-east of Lisbon.
The interior ministry said 60 people died from the flames and suffocating smoke, while another two people perished in a traffic accident related to the fires.
At least 30 of those killed were in vehicles engulfed by flames on a road between the towns of Figueiro dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera.
Another 54 people were injured, including four firefighters.
More than 350 soldiers have joined the 700 firefighters who have been struggling to put out the flames since Saturday.
A Spanish firefighting aircraft is assisting and another was expected to arrive yesterday, while France was also sending three aircraft.
A huge wall of thick smoke and bright red flames could at one point be seen towering over the top of trees near houses in the wooded region.
Valdemar Alves, mayor of Pedrogao Grande, said: “This is a region that has had fires because of its forests but we cannot remember a tragedy of these proportions.”