Portugal Declares State of Calamity Due to Wildfires and Asks for EU Help

Portuguese Prime Minister Luiz Montenegro has announced a state of calamity in the regions in the south-west of the country that have been most affected by the wildfires that have been raging since last weekend.

This was reported by the AP.

In declaring the state of calamity, Montenegro called on the authorities to mobilise more firefighters and civil servants, and on police investigators to redouble their efforts to find those who started the fires.

‘We are well aware that the hard times are not over yet. We must continue to give everything we have and ask for help from our partners and friends so that we can strengthen the protection of our people and property,’ the Portuguese prime minister added.

Earlier, Portuguese police said they had arrested seven men suspected of setting fires in recent days.

The fire, which broke out in the southwestern region of Aveiro, got out of control over the weekend and has already spread to more than 15,000 hectares of territory, where more than 100 forest fires have been recorded.

According to the latest reports, seven people died in the fires, including three rescuers.

According to Reuters, on Monday, Portugal asked the European Commission for more firefighting aircraft as at least 15 fires raged in the country's central and northern regions.

The mayor of Albergaria a Velha, Antonio Loureiro, said that the fire has burned two houses and is raging in the industrial and residential perimeter of the city, which is home to about 25,000 people.

The European Union, at the request of the Portuguese government, urgently mobilised eight aircraft to extinguish the fires, and Spain sent an additional 240 soldiers and equipment from its rapid response units.

While Portugal is battling wildfires, Central and Eastern Europe is suffering from floods.

As The Gaze previously reported, heavy rains and flooding have claimed at least 17 lives in Central and Eastern Europe.