Alwaght-At least 62 people have died as raging forest fire enveloped a stretch of road in central Portugal with the government declaring a state of emergency.
The fire, which is still burning trapped motorists inside their cars with the Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa describing the blaze in the Pedrógão Grande area as “the worst tragedy in terms of human lives that we’ve known in recent years.”
Eleven districts were under surveillance on Sunday because of an extreme fire risk. And firefighters were trying to prevent fires from spreading to more houses. European Union officials in Brussels said on Sunday that they had activated the bloc’s civil protection mechanism to send reinforcements to Portugal. Spain also sent two planes to help contain the fire.
The cause of the fire in Pedrógão Grande area was not immediately clear. Officials suggested that it had been spurred by a dry thunderstorm, in which lightning strikes but there is no rainfall.
Portugal was sweltering under a severe heatwave Saturday, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in several regions.
Some 60 forest fires broke out across the country during the night, with around 1,700 firefighters battling to put them out.
Secretary of State for the Interior Jorge Gomes many people burned to death trapped in their cars engulfed by flames in the Leiria region.
The government has declared Sunday through Tuesday national days of mourning for the victims of a fire "which has caused an irreparable loss of human life."
Portugal was hit by a series of fires last year which devastated more than 100,000 hectares (1,000 square kilometers) of the mainland.
