Fires in Portugal

bluethrunthru

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Can't see a thread on this but has to be said in other times this would be major news......... huge death toll - claims - later denied - that a fire fighting water plane had crashed - harrowing tales on the TV news from survivors......absolutely awful. Thus far the summer of '17 has little to recommend it.
 
A major forest fire raging in central Portugal for three days has been mostly contained but is still burning fiercely, say officials.

The welcome news about the blaze in the Pedrogao Grande region came as another fire grew in size, with some resources being diverted to Gois, about 12 miles away.

Commander Vitor Vaz Pinto said the Gois blaze was "very fast and very explosive" and had forced the evacuation of 11 hill villages.

At least 64 people have died and over 150 injured in the blazes which broke out in Pedrogao Grande over the weekend and spread quickly to other areas.

More than 1,000 firefighters and almost 400 fire engines are still battling to control the flames.

Meanwhile, there have been conflicting reports about whether a water-dropping plane involved in the operation to tackle devastating fires had crashed.

An official at Portugal's air accident office, Maria Jose Andre, said she had been told by the civil protection agency that a Canadair water-dropping plane had come down.

But a spokesman for the civil protection agency said none of the planes fighting the deadly wildfires were missing.

According to reports, the aircraft came down near the village of Ouzenda while tackling the blazes, which have already destroyed more than 64,000 acres of forest.


A reporter said he heard a loud explosion and there had been thick smoke over the affected area. He said a woman told him he saw the plane crash in a fireball.

Some 30 water-dropping aircraft have been battling the blazes, some operating under bilateral agreements with the Portuguese government and others as part of an EU co-operation agreement.

Planes from Spain, France, Italy and Morocco were among those helping to fight the fires.

Of the 64 victims, 47 died on one particular road - the N236 highway - including 30 who burned to death in their cars after being trapped by the flames.
 

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