Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Wildfires encircle Algarve resort town

1413825
1413825
minus
plus

Lisbon: Hundreds of Portuguese firefighters and soldiers battled ferocious forest fires that threatened to engulf an Algarve resort town on Tuesday, after sweltering temperatures kindled blazes that have whipped across the region.


A heatwave across Europe sent the mercury above 45 degrees Celsius (1130 Fahrenheit) in some areas of Portugal at the weekend, with fire crews struggling to extinguish wildfires around Monchique that have left 29 people injured, one seriously.


Fire crews used aeroplanes and helicopters as well as several hundred vehicles on Tuesday in a fresh attempt to contain the blazes, which have raged for days stoked by strong winds.


The wildfires, which have consumed some 15,000 hectares (76,000 acres) of forest, crept closer to the enclave, leaving behind a blackened path of charred houses and incinerated cars.


“There are several main homes affected. But for the moment we are not yet able to make an assessment,” said Monchique mayor Rui Andre, according to local media.


A 76-year-old woman has been sent to hospital in Lisbon for treatment due to the fires, which took hold last week around the Monchique mountain range at the highest point of the Algarve tourist region.


Authorities had hoped to contain the fires on Monday, but the country’s civil protection service said that strong winds had revived the flames, “which immediately took on large proportions”.


The difficulty in bringing the fires under control has raised eyebrows after the Portuguese authorities brought in various measures in a bid to avoid a repetition of fires that killed at least 114 people last year.


In the Valencia region of neighbouring Spain some 2,500 people were driven from their homes to escape flames. — AFP


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon