Lisbon, June 19 (RHC)-- The number of people killed in the forest fires raging in central Portugal has risen to 62, with 54 others injured, State Secretary of Internal Affairs Ministry Jorge Gomes said Sunday.
Gomes told reporters that among the dead, two are victims of a road accident, while four of the injured are in serious condition. The Portuguese government has declared a state of emergency in the fire area, and also a three-day national mourning from Sunday to Tuesday.
The fires broke out Saturday in Pedrogao Grande, some 150 km northeast of Lisbon, and quickly spread to the towns of Figueird dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera in the district of Leiria, where firefighters are still battling the fire.
The huge fires had been caused by dry lightning, Almeida Rodrigues, director of the Portuguese criminal investigation police (PJ), told reporters. A dry thunderstorm is a storm with thunder and lightning, with most or all the rain evaporating before reaching the ground.
Death Toll in Portugal Forest Fires Rises to 62
Related Articles
Commentaries
MAKE A COMMENT
All fields requiredMore Views
- UN special rapporteur warns Israel's crimes in Gaza could keep International Court of Justice busy at The Hague for 50 years
- Arab countries at United Nations declare full support for new UN Security Council resolution that calls for permanent ceasefire in Gaza
- Israeli forces raped, tortured and executed Palestinian women at Al-Shifa Hospital
- International Labor Organization says profits from forced labor at nearly one-quarter of a trillion dollars
- Cuba condemns terrorist act in the Moscow region