Wildfires rage in Portugal as seven die

Three firefighters died in Portugal on Tuesday (September 17) as they headed to battle a blaze as wildfires rage in the central and northern part of the country taking the death toll to seven, local media reported.

Over 40 have been injured as authorities evacuated more villages overnight, state news agency Lusa reported.

By Monday, the civil protection authority had accounted for three deaths and the government requested help from the European Commission under the EU civil protection mechanism, leading Spain, Italy and Greece to send two water-bombing aircraft each.

There were 48 active wildfires in mainland Portugal mobilising around 5,000 firefighters.

In Aveiro alone, the blazes have burned through more than 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of forest and scrubland in the past two days, officials said, roughly the same acreage that was consumed by fires through the end of August in the entire country.

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