Portugal declares three days of national mourning after fires kill dozens

Portugal declared three days of national mourning on Sunday for 61 victims of forest fires on the weekend.

Many were found dead inside their cars as they tried to flee the central forested region of Pedrógão Grande.

Four children are among the deceased.

A forest fire in central #Portugal killed 19 people Saturday; one of the country’s deadliest forest fires in decades https://t.co/f6oyb8pF9N pic.twitter.com/Wq9U8Qtxcf

— Ed Joyce (@EdJoyce) 18 June 2017

Thousands of firefighters rushed to the stretch of road between Figueiró dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera in central Portugal.

At least 600 firefighters are battling huge forest fires in Portugal. The country’s govt says 39 people have been killed and 59 injured. pic.twitter.com/iF2a7JQYWl

— AJ+ (@ajplus) 18 June 2017

They continue to tackle the flames.

Portigal’s prime minister Antonio Costa called the blaze:

The greatest tragedy we have seen in recent years in terms of forest fires.

The cause of the fire was thought to have been a lightning strike during a dry thunderstorm, he said.

The fire spread along four fronts with “great violence,” said Jorge Gomes, Portugal’s secretary of state for internal administration.

The homes of residents living in the vicinity of the flames have been destroyed by the fire.

Last August, a blaze engulfed parts of Portugal, including the Madeira islands in the Atlantic, where the flames reached the main city, Funchal.

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