A spate of wildfires in Spain and Portugal has killed at least 36 people, including a one-month-old infant, authorities said on Monday, making this year by far the deadliest on record for forest blazes in the region.
Thirty-two were killed in Portugal, including the infant. In neighbouring Spain, wildfires killed at least four people and prompted the evacuation of thousands in the northwest region of Galicia, as the remnants of winds from Hurricane Ophelia fanned the flames along Iberia’s Atlantic coast.
The late-season fires returned to Portugal four months after a summer blaze claimed 64 lives in one night.
A one-month-old baby was among the dead, the Civil Protection Agency said on Monday. It was found near Tabua, some 200km north of Lisbon, and the bodies of its parents reportedly were found nearby. Officials did not provide further details.
More than 50 people were injured, 15 of them seriously, and nine people were reported missing in the blazes that broke out over the weekend, according to the Civil Protection Agency.
More than 5,300 firefighters with more than 1,600 vehicles were still battling the fires through dense pine and eucalyptus forests on Monday.