Funchal - SPA
A wildfire encroached upon a suburb of
the main city of the Portuguese island of Madeira Friday, injuring
eight people, dpa quoted civil protection authorities and a hospital
representative as saying.
Flames had reached barns on the outskirts of Monte, a summer
refuge for many residents of Funchal, the capital of the Portuguese
Atlantic outpost.
Eight people were treated for slight injuries, while several were
evacuated.
High temperatures and winds were hampering the firefighting
effort, firefighter commander Nelson Bettencourt said.
Madeira is the main island in an archipelago of the same name,
located about 600 kilometres off North Africa.
Several fires were also raging in continental Portugal. Blazes in
the northern districts of Guarda and Porto were reported to be under
control.
A firefighter was killed Thursday when he got cut off from his
colleagues and was surrounded by flames in Covilha, eastern
Portugal. Pedro Miguel Jesus Rodrigues became the 104th firefighter
to be killed when combating wildfires since 1980.