Rescue workers are conceding there is “no hope” for the two people still missing from the horrific explosions at a Lamego fireworks factory yesterday that have resulted in six confirmed deaths - the majority of them from the same family.

The horror has shattered the rural community of Avões which literally felt the earth rumble at 5.30 pm when the first explosion let rip.

Witnesses described “a boom that felt like an earthquake”.

A 90-year-old woman died on Monday after being attacked by the dog of owners of an old people’s home in which she was residing.

The Boxer/ Labrador cross has since been described as a gentle dog. But according to Correio da Manhã he attacked a member of staff taking him to his kennel on Monday afternoon, and then bit the elderly woman on the neck “and did not let go”.

CM says the dog’s owner was not present at the moment of the attacks.

By natasha.donn@algarveresident.com

Article by kind permission of Portugal Resident

Portugal is to receive €3.9 million from Europe’s Solidarity Fund - designed to help countries recover from natural disasters.

The roar of powerboats returns to the Arade River in Portimão in just a few a couple of weeks’ time.

Douro Azul, the largest cruiseship operator in the country, is threatening to ditch the Portuguese flag because of the time it takes to get business done in Portugal.

The sale of luxury, super-sports cars is suddenly going off the scale in Portugal, with the largest percentage increases registered for years.

Portugal’s Socialist party (PS) has rejected a series of proposals to either scrap or temporarily suspend the Algarve’s A22 motorway tolls, saying that the country simply cannot “afford to do so”.

In what has been described as a racist attack, a Portuguese mother and her daughter have been pelted with eggs by a group who set on them after hearing them speaking Portuguese on their way to a Leyton health centre.