A huge forest fire in Portugal has claimed at least 62 lives, with the death toll likely to increase further, the country's Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Sunday.
The fire that broke out on Saturday in the municipality of Pedrogao Grande is still raging, with nearly 900 firefighters and 300 vehicles battling the blaze. "This seems to be the greatest tragedy we have seen in recent years in terms of forest fires," Costa stated as he arrived at the affected area located around 200km from Lisbon. He declared three days of mourning starting from today and sent two army battalions to help the emergency services at the scene.
The European Union promised to provide firefighting aircraft to Portugal and do all it can to assist the authorities and the Portuguese people. France has offered three firefighting planes, while Spain sent two, the country's authorities confirmed.
