Portugal’s deadliest fire kills 62 while fleeing the blaze
More than 1,000 firefighters are battling Portugal's deadliest forest blaze after it killed at least 62 people over the weekend, Reuters reported on June 19.
At least half the victims died in their cars as they tried to flee along a local motorway while many other bodies were found next to the road, suggesting they had probably abandoned their vehicles in panic, according to the news agency.
Portugal’s prime minister António Costa said that the fire around the mountainous area of Pedrógão Grande, 200 kilometres northeast of Lisbon, was the biggest human tragedy in Portugal in living memory.
Water planes, including French and Spanish ones, are being deployed to stop the blaze. Dozens of fire engines drove back and forth to fight the raging blaze in areas as far as 20 kiometres north of Pedrogao Grande.
"There is still a lot of forest that can burn and the rain does not make much difference," said Rui Barreto, deputy chief firefighter at the makeshift emergency services headquarters in Pedrógão Grande.
Police said a lightning strike on a tree probably caused the blaze on Saturday in a region hit by an intense heat wave and dry, gusty winds, which fanned the flames.
Despite government assurances that the first response by the emergency services was swift and adequate, many media and residents questioned the efficiency of the operation and the strategic planning in a country which is used to wooded areas burning every year, Reuters noted.
A public petition circulating on the Internet demanding an investigation into possible failures by the authorities has gathered about 270 signatures.
Today’s stories
Brown & Brown acquires earthquake and hurricane insurance specialist
UK’s FCA chairman steps down, successor search begins
AXIS hires data scientist from Zurich to boost analytics capabilities
Arch Re replaces Canadian CEO with Aon Benfield executive
SCOR enters US medical reinsurance market
R&Q completes $46.5m loss portfolio transfer
Willis Towers Watson bolsters insurance risk unit with new hire
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
Already registered?
Login to your account
If you don't have a login or your access has expired, you will need to purchase a subscription to gain access to this article, including all our online content.
For more information on individual annual subscriptions for full paid access and corporate subscription options please contact us.
To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.
For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Elliot Field at efield@newtonmedia.co.uk or Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk
Editor's picks
Editor's picks
More articles
Intelligent Insurer
Newton Media Ltd
Kingfisher House
21-23 Elmfield Road
BR1 1LT
United Kingdom