Deadly Fires Sweep Portugal and Northern Spain
- 7 years ago
Deadly Fires Sweep Portugal and Northern Spain
Bay of Biscay FRANCE GALICIA ASTURIAS Barcelona Vigo SPAIN Madrid Pedrógão Grande PORTUGAL Mediterranean Sea Strait of Gibraltar ALGERIA Active fires in Spain
and Portugal, 15-16 October Atlantic Ocean MOROCCO OCT. 16, 2017
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of Galicia, said on Monday that many of the fires had started as acts of arson.
16, 2017
MADRID — At least 35 people have been killed and dozens more injured by wildfires in Portugal
and northern Spain, as strong winds from a hurricane fanned hundreds of blazes sweeping across densely forested territory.
Asked to justify the decision, Mr. Feijóo had said at a news conference
that the risk of fire along the Atlantic coast had "lowered significantly." Portugal’s forests have been burning repeatedly during an unusually dry and warm summer.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is from Galicia, traveled on Monday to his home
region, where the authorities confirmed that at least four people had died.
"The rain has now been helping us," Ángel Rodal, the mayor of Baiona, told the
television channel Antena 3 early Monday, as flames neared his coastal town.
In a post on Twitter, Mr. Rajoy said he gone to the region in the name of the Spanish people
to express his condolences for those who died and to offer support for those affected.
Bay of Biscay FRANCE GALICIA ASTURIAS Barcelona Vigo SPAIN Madrid Pedrógão Grande PORTUGAL Mediterranean Sea Strait of Gibraltar ALGERIA Active fires in Spain
and Portugal, 15-16 October Atlantic Ocean MOROCCO OCT. 16, 2017
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of Galicia, said on Monday that many of the fires had started as acts of arson.
16, 2017
MADRID — At least 35 people have been killed and dozens more injured by wildfires in Portugal
and northern Spain, as strong winds from a hurricane fanned hundreds of blazes sweeping across densely forested territory.
Asked to justify the decision, Mr. Feijóo had said at a news conference
that the risk of fire along the Atlantic coast had "lowered significantly." Portugal’s forests have been burning repeatedly during an unusually dry and warm summer.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is from Galicia, traveled on Monday to his home
region, where the authorities confirmed that at least four people had died.
"The rain has now been helping us," Ángel Rodal, the mayor of Baiona, told the
television channel Antena 3 early Monday, as flames neared his coastal town.
In a post on Twitter, Mr. Rajoy said he gone to the region in the name of the Spanish people
to express his condolences for those who died and to offer support for those affected.