(Ansa) Portugal woke up today in a nightmare to the apocalyptic images left behind by the violent fire that devastated the forests around Pedrogao Grande, 160 km north of Lisbon, killing at least 58 people, many of them charred in the car, and 59 injured, 5 of which seriously. As the hours passed, the death toll rose to 62, including 4 children. Entire families were trapped in the car by the violence of the flames. It is the most serious disaster to have occurred in Portugal, said Portuguese premier Antonio Costa, who arrived on the spot together with the president of the republic Marcelo Rebelo da Sousa. The government proclaimed 3 days of national mourning.
The 700 firefighters engaged in the fight against the flames still active in the morning on four fronts, two still violent, found the bodies of 30 people still locked up in the cars destroyed by the flames. Others were killed as they tried to flee on foot. Whole families died like this. The bodies of 9 adults and two children were found in two cars stopped in the middle of a road in a wood.
The judicial police have ruled out that there is a criminal hand behind this tragedy.
The fire would have started due to a lightning strike on a tree, in the middle of dry vegetation due to the lack of rain for days. The lightning-fast spread of the flames was propitiated by the high temperatures, around 40 degrees, and by violent winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour.
(updated at 18,45pm)
