In Pictures: Aftermath of Portugal's deadly wildfires

The country is still reeling from the worst forest fire in its history, in which more than 60 people have died and over 150 injured

Updated

Published

Jun 28, 2017, 11:38 AM

A helicopter dumping a load of water to contain the wildfires near the village of Avelar on Tuesday (June 20). The main fire, which erupted on Saturday (June 17), spread with breathtaking speed and engulfed in flames the remote villages in a hilly region about 200km north-east of Lisbon. NYTIMES

Firefighters in a valley near the village of Sandinha, Portugal on Wednesday (June 21) last week. Police say the fire was caused by dry lightning strikes and spread so quickly due to an unusually dangerous mix of low humidity, extremely high temperatures and powerful winds. Despite this, there are conspiracy theories about the cause of the fire, and doubts over whether the authorities responded quickly enough. NYTIMES

A firefighter monitoring a raging fire in a valley near the village of Sandinha. Portugal has a small professional firefighting corps, but it relies on 40,000 volunteers, who often join as soon as they turn 18. NYTIMES

Ms Lucinda Henriques Goncalves watches as firefighters douse the smouldering earth near her home in Adega, Portugal last Friday (June 23). Residents are questioning the decision by the authorities to evacuate some villages. NYTIMES

A car that was destroyed in the fires near the village of Souto Fundeiro, Portugal. Residents are criticising the authorities for failing to close the narrow, winding roads where most of those who died had been trapped in their cars. NYTIMES

Strong winds sweeping smoke and flames through a valley near the village of Sandinha, Portugal. According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System, more than 40,000ha of Portugal's forests have been burnt this year, far more than the average of just under 10,000ha burnt by this time of the year in 2008. NYTIMES

Burnt road signs, leafless trees and the melted carcasses of abandoned cars littered the winding rural roads in the affected areas. Last year, wildfires destroyed 115,000ha of woods, an area the size of 100,000 football fields.
NYTIMES

The funeral of firefighter Gonçalo Conceição, who died fighting the wildfires, in Castanheira de Pera, Portugal, on Wednesday (June 21) last week. Most of the firefighters who battled the blazes were volunteers. NYTIMES

Ms Caterina Araujo Silva checking on the home of her parents, which was unoccupied when the wildfires swept through Souto Fundeiro. Ms Silva, who lives in the capital Lisbon, says it was panic that killed many people as they didn’t know what to do. NYTIMES

Scorched trees loom over a funeral ceremony held for six victims of the wildfires in the tiny village of Sarzedas de Sao Pedro, on Tuesday (June 20) last week. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa has asked for explanations about what went wrong in the initial response by emergency services. NYTIMES

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