World
18:28, 16-Oct-2017
At least 27 dead in wildfires as Portugal declares state of public emergency
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At least 27 people died, and 51 left injured in devastating wildfires that have ravaged forests in Portugal since Sunday, reported the country’s civil protection agency on Monday.
According to Patricia Gaspar, a civil protection service spokesperson, firefighters were still battling 145 fires, and 32 of the blazes were considered as dangerous.
Portugal’s government has declared a state of public emergency in all regions north of the Tagus River, a territory about half the size of continental Portugal.
The emergency decision came just three months after massive forest fires, which broke out in the central town of Pedrogao Grande, killing 64 people and injured more than 250.