© EPA
A firefighter tries to extinguish a forest fire in Zamanes area, in Vigo, Galicia, northwestern Spain
A firefighter tries to extinguish a forest fire in Zamanes area, in Vigo, Galicia, northwestern Spain
Hurricane Ophelia's strong winds are blamed for fanning flames of deadly forest fires in Portugal and Spain
At least six people have been killed and around 25 others injured - mainly firefighters - during Portugal's worst day of the year for forest fires.
Around 500 blazes were reported in the country's central and northern regions where a state of emergency has been declared.
Soaring temperatures of up to 36 degrees celsius have been recorded - extraordinary for mid-October.
More than 100 fires were still burning late Sunday night with more than 5,000 firefighters battling the flames.
The worst outbreak of Portugal's fires in 2017 killed 64 people in June, with many dying on a road as they fled the rampant flames in their cars.
Wildfires are also ravaging north west Spain where at least three people have been reported killed and two more are missing.
The bodies of two victims were found in a van which had been travelling through burning woods in Pontevedra province.
After a weekend in which more than 100 fires started in the region of Galicia, the city of Vigo has been described as being under siege from the flames.
Weather experts say the fires on the Iberian peninsula are being fanned by strong winds from Hurricane Ophelia.
Comment:
Update (17 Oct.)
At least 39 people have died in wildfires raging through parched farmlands and forests in Portugal and Spain. Authorities said they were still battling 60 blazes in Portugal and another 50 in Spain.
Portugal's government has asked for international help, as it still tries to recover from its deadliest fire on record in June. It has declared a state of emergency in territory north of the Tagus river, which is about half of its land mass.
Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa declared a public emergency Monday, describing the fires as "devastating." He announced that all necessary means would be mobilized to fight the blazes. This has been a "dramatic year," he said, and promised action to prevent such large-scale fires in the future.
Flames ripped across countryside left tinder-dry by an unusually hot summer and early autumn, fanned by strong winds as remnants of ex-Hurricane Ophelia brushed the Iberian coast. Officials in Portugal and Spain said arsonists had started some of the blazes.
In June, 64 people died in a huge forest fire in central Portugal. The government has been criticised for a slow, inefficient response and a lack of fire-prevention policies.