Around 15 people have also been injured, one of them seriously, in the firefighting efforts near the border town of Sabugal on Tuesday. It is also the area where the two firefighting aircraft from Sweden have been stationed.
On Wednesday morning, four major fires were still being fought. Over 2,600 firefighters have been deployed and are being supported by around 20 aircraft. Since the beginning of the year, around 261,000 hectares of land have been destroyed in fires, according to Effis, an institution within the EU that monitors the fire situation in Europe using satellite images.
In the neighboring country of Spain, four people have died in the fires and a record-large area has been ravaged by fire – around 373,000 hectares.
The fires have been driven by heatwaves and drought attributed to climate change.
