Portugal, gripped by forest fires, has reported seven deaths and is appealing for European aid.
The country, which is on high alert due to a series of fires, has asked European Union member states for help in fighting the blazes. Three firefighters died on Tuesday 17 September, bringing the death toll to seven since the fires began.
In a statement, Portugal has called on its European partners for help in combating a a series of forest fires across the country. By late Sunday afternoon, these fires had mobilised more than 5,000 firefighters nationwide.
Faced with this critical situation, Portugal has “requested support from the European Civil Protection Mechanism” in order to acquire four pairs of amphibious aircraft to tackle the fires, even though the country already has around thirty aircraft or helicopters.
"We are going to urgently deploy eight fire-fighting aircraft", the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on the social media platform X, thanking France, Greece, Italy and Spain for their ‘rapid response’.
The current total is 10,000 hectares burnt; as for the French Canadair aircraft, their sorties have already been underway since Tuesday morning.