At least 63 people, including four children, lost their lives in the violent fire that devoured the woods of Pedrógão Grande, in central Portugal, about 150 kilometers northeast of Lisbon. The death toll rises again, while the search for bodies continues. The injured are over 100, some of them in serious condition. Prime Minister Antonio Costa has warned that the budget could still get worse.

The victims are mostly people, in some cases entire families, who were in cars and remained blocked by flames along the road that connects Figueiro dos Vinhos to Castanheira de Pera, in the district of Leiria. “A tragedy”, Costa called it, “unprecedented”

The first rescuers arrived on the scene spoke of “horrible scenario”, explained Interior Minister Jorge Gomes. “It is difficult to say whether people were fleeing the fire or whether they were caught in the fire,” he continued before specifying that the seriously injured were four firemen and a child. And it is a four-year-old child who is the first victim identified: the child was in the car with an uncle when a burning tree hit the vehicle. Among the victims also another child of four and two of eight. What has been possible to establish so far is that 30 people died charred in cars, others 17 out while trying to escape on foot.

Intent excluded. The authorities have ruled out that the fire could have been malicious. There would be the nature behind the tragedy, more precisely the fall of some lightning on a wooded area made dry by the high temperatures – up to 40 degrees – that were recorded in these days in Portugal. The fire would then propagate in a way that “has no explanation”, the Interior Minister insisted, pointing out that the strong wind has turned a small fire into “a fire that is impossible to control”.

Battle against the fire. Some 700 firefighters from Setubal, Coimbra and Lisbon were mobilized against the flames, but the fire continued to burn for hours on four fronts. Many streets of Pedrógão Grande have been closed to deal with the emergency and hundreds of people have been evacuated from the homes of the surrounding areas. Six Canadians arrived from Spain and France. However, the great low cloud of smoke that has been created on the area complicates the intervention of the aerial means. Teams of psychologists have also arrived to give comfort to the survivors, many of whom are “in shock” for the loss of family members.