As wildfires continue ravaging in several parts of Europe, including Spain, Portugal along with France, over thousand of people are getting evacuated from their homes to be saved from blistering summer temperatures. A Portuguese firefighter plane pilot died in the northeast of the nation Friday, due to the wildfires, as per reports. The pilot was killed while on an operation near the town of Torre de Moncorvo.
The Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Costa has released a message via his official Twitter handle, that, “It was with great dismay that I became aware of the death of the pilot who operated an aircraft that fell this afternoon.”
He expressed his condolences to the bereaved family members and friends of the pilot and his solidarity and gratitude to all taking part in the fight against the fires.
Meanwhile, Portugal has been specifically hard hit by wildfires this week. More than 3,000 firefighters battled along with ordinary Portuguese citizens desperate to save their homes from several wildfires that ravaged around the nation, flared by increasing temperatures and drought conditions. The country’s Civil Protection Agency said ten fires were still raging Friday, with ones in the north causing the most concern.
In France, 1,000 firefighters and 10 water-dumping planes contended with high temperatures and strong winds to try to contain two wildfires in the Bordeaux region of southwestern France that have forced the evacuation of 11,300 people and ravaged pine forests near the Atlantic coast.
Spain, Croatia and Hungary have also fought wildfires this week. For a fifth day, firefighters in Spain were fighting Friday to try to bring under control a fire which was flared by a lightning strike in the west-central Las Hurdes area that has destroyed about 5,500 hectares (13,600 acres).
Around 400 people from eight villages were evacuated late Thursday as the flames touched their houses and threatened to spread more into the nearby Monfrague National Park.
