Photo: Emergency services on red alert as deadly heat wave kills 1,063 in Portugal
No fewer than 1,603 people have been killed across Portugal within two weeks following a deadly heat wave which has ravaged parts of the country.
Health Ministry officials said on Thursday that the devastating heat wave also provoked wildfires that destroyed around 45,467 hectares of land.
Portugal’s environmental institute ICNF in a released provisional data described the development as one of Portugal’s worst heat waves.
The agency said that the heat wave brought the country’s highest ever temperature for July to 47 degrees Celsius
ICNF said, “Although the data is provisional, the excess mortality spiked amid one of Portugal’s worst heat waves on record from July 7 to 18, which brought the country’s highest ever temperature for July: 47 degrees Celsius (116.6 Fahrenheit).
“What that means is that in just 13 days, 60% more hectares were charred in the country than in all of 2021 combined.
“Two firefighters and one civilian also died in the blazes, and more than 135 people were injured.”
Duarte Cordeiro, the country’s Environment Minister, also told parliament that the country was suffering from “extreme drought” .
He urged citizens to cut back on water use, adding that preparing the nation for the consequences of climate change would take a generation.
