View of Choupana Hills Hotel after last night’s forest fires in Funchal, Madeira island, Portugal August 10, 2016.
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The people of Madeira, A Portuguese archipelago situated in the north Atlantic Ocean, southwest of Portugal, with Funchal as Capital have been rendered homeless due to an outbreak of wildfire in the part of the country.
Earlier on Tuesday, President of the Regional Government of Madeira Miguel Albuquerque said two firefighters were injured and needed hospital assistance.
Two other people were seriously hurt, while one person is missing and more than 300 people require medical treatment for smoke inhalation and minor burns, the official added.
“Roughly 1,000 people had to be evacuated from homes and hotels”, among them both residents and tourists, the Lusa news agency quoted Funchal mayor Paulo Cafofo as saying.
Temperatures in excess of 35C have led to more than 12 major fires in mainland Portugal, majority in the north-west of the country.
Firefighters said steep hills, dense woodland and large amounts of dry pine trees after a recent drought had made it particularly hard to tackle the flames once they began to spread.
Other wildfires have raged for several days on the Portuguese mainland.
Fires began in the hills around Funchal late on Monday, but significantly worsened 24 hours later after they were fanned by strong winds.
The authorities say around 3,000 firefighters are trying to extinguish hundreds of forest fires across the country.
The worst-hit areas were in northern Portugal, where temperatures have exceeded 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) since Saturday. The region’s pine and eucalyptus forests are tinder-dry after a long spell without significant rain.
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A firefighter works to stop a forest fire from reaching houses on the outskirts of Funchal.
