Wildfires responsible for 39 deaths in Portugal, Spain

Associated Press in CBC News
October 16, 2017
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Wildfires in Portugal killed at least 35 people, injured dozens more and left others missing in the country’s second such tragedy in four months, officials said Monday. In neighbouring Spain, four deaths were reported. The fatalities in Portugal occurred in densely forested parts of central and northern part of the country after blazes broke out in “exceptional” weather circumstances, Civil Protection Agency spokeswoman Patricia Gaspar said. The situation was still “critical” because of unseasonably high temperatures, Gaspar said. But cooler, wetter weather is approaching, which may give some respite to firefighters tackling the blazes….She said 56 people were injured, 16 of them seriously, and nine people were reported missing in the blazes that broke out over the weekend.

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