Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Residents watch on as their homes blaze in Pedrogao Grande
A catastrophic forest fire in Portugal has claimed at least 62 lives, including four children, officials say.
Most died while trying to flee the Pedrógão Grande area, 50 km (30 miles) south-east of Coimbra, in their cars, according to the government.
Hundreds of firefighters are continuing to tackle the blaze, which has spread across several fronts.
Prime Minister Antonio Costa called it "the greatest tragedy we have seen in recent years in terms of forest fires".
The death toll could rise further as many people remain missing, he warned. The authorities have declared three days of national mourning, starting on Sunday.
Secretary of State for the Interior Jorge Gomes said that the majority of the victims died from smoke inhalation and burns, while two died in a road accident related to the fires.
He earlier said 30 bodies were found inside cars, with another 17 next to the vehicles, on one road leading on to the IC8 motorway.
Another 11 died in a village next to the motorway.
Media in Portugal say the fire is no closer to being contained despite hundreds of firefighters and 300 vehicles working to put it out.
Among the dozens of people injured was an eight-year-old girl with burns found wandering alone close to the fire, the Correio do Manhã newspaper reported.
Six firefighters are seriously wounded, national broadcaster RTP said, and two who went missing overnight turned up injured.
The Correio do Manhã warned that many areas hit by the fire had not yet been reached by authorities, so the death toll was likely to increase.
Image copyright EPA Image caption A number of houses near Pedrógão Grande have been destroyed
Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption The search for victims of the fire has continued into Sunday
About 60 forest fires broke out across the country overnight, with close to 1,700 firefighters battling them across Portugal.
The flames spread "with great violence" on four fronts near Pedrógão Grande, Mr Gomes said.
Spain has sent two water-bombing planes to help tackle the fires, and the European Union is co-ordinating an international firefighting and relief effort.
It is not yet known what caused the fire, however Mr Costa said thunderstorms could have been one possible cause.
Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Firefighters pause as the wildfire continues behind them
Portugal has been experiencing a heatwave, with temperatures of more than 40C (104F) in some areas.
"This is a region that has had fires because of its forests, but we cannot remember a tragedy of these proportions," Valdemar Alves, the mayor of Pedrógão Grande, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press agency.
"I am completely stunned by the number of deaths."
What happens next? Alison Roberts, BBC News, Lisbon
We have had large-scale fires before over the past couple of decades - this year is not unusual in that respect - but it is certainly unusual to have so many fatalities in one place. Portuguese officials are visibly shocked.
There were very particular circumstances with the lightning strikes here - this fire started with a dry lightning strike. There has been rainfall elsewhere but there was no rain there, and this is a heavily-forested area.
Getting it under control depends not only on temperatures, which do seem as though they will be high, but on the wind above all. It is very much in the hands of Mother Nature.
Are you in the Pedrógão Grande area? Have you been affected by this incident? Let us know by emailing [email protected]
You can also contact us in the following ways:
Text an SMS or MMS to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (international)
maa_get_it_right on June 18th, 2017 at 11:36 UTC »
Just to give some context, since I am portuguese: This is absolutely unprecedented in Portugal. Never anything close to this happened in our country despite the usual forest fires every summer. Usually one or 2 people die, sometimes firemen, in this type of fires, but to have 40 people getting caught in their cars while driving tells how horrifically fast the flames covered long distances. I am truly shocked and never thought people could get caught like this in a fire, because you would think they would just drive away. But when 40+ get caught it tells you there was nothing they could do.
Also don't you think this would never happen in your country because Portugal is poor or something like that. Last time I heard we have 700 firemen, 150 vehicles and aerial support just in this single fire.
Last update says 58 people dead. Tragic
Edit: Update: In the news they are saying that some of the people caught while driving were trying to flee their village which was already surrounded by flames; rescuers are checking villages where the fire has passed and some old people were caught while already sleeping (this started late afternoon yesterday); there are still 2 more villages to check and rescuers are afraid a lot more people will be found dead...
Edit2: Update: It was mentioned that in a village, 11 people survived by staying inside a water tank; there are also a lot of people still missing; rescuers predict that later this night it will be possible to look for survivors in villages that were surrounded by fire till now. Here you can see a photo of one of the roads were people driving got caught: road affected by forest fires
Edit3: If you want to help these people, you can do it by using this IBAN PT50 0035 0001 00100000330 42. I found an article in english to show you that this is an official way to help link
Quoting: "To help survivors, a helpline was open by Caixa Geral de Depósitos, under the title “Unidos por Pedrógão”. The account can be accessed using NIB: 0035 0001 0010 0000 3304 2. Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) is a Portuguese state-owned banking corporation, and the second largest bank in Portugal, established in Lisbon in 1876." (need to add PT50 before if you are from outside the country)
firstof on June 18th, 2017 at 09:15 UTC »
The fire was caused by a dry thunderstorm
JSantosPT on June 18th, 2017 at 09:15 UTC »
Death toll just raised to 57....
Pretty sad, even more considering most people died in their cars with no escape possible, hopefully the smoke killed them before the fire did.