According to the National Authority for Civil Protection's report at noon today, the horrendous fires that swept across 225,447 hectares of Portugal’s forest and farmland over the past three days, have injured 71 people, of which 16 remain in serious condition, and killed 37 people with seven still missing.
An update on Tuesday evening reports 41 dead with no people reported as missing with the one-month-old baby, thought to have died, now confirmed as "well and with the family."
Spokesperson, Patrícia Gaspar, blames this harrowing misinformation on the "complex" flow of information that led several sources (including the National Authority for Civil Protection for whom she works,) as reporting the baby as having died in the fire.
Despite many smaller fires successfully being doused today, October 17, the red alert remained in place until 20:00 but the serious fires have been declared 'over.'
After visiting the Burns Unit at the Hospital de Coimbra to talk to the injured, Portugal’s Prime Minister, António Costa, went to Lousã, where he met the presidents of Lousã, Arganil, Góis, Vila Nova de Poiares and Penacova, a clutch of those areas worst affected, later meeting presidents of the Oliveira do Hospital, Santa Comba Dão, Tábua and Mortágua councils.
António Costa said that this is "a time of great anguish and distress" but that "the work does not end when the fire goes out," and admitted that the country has a "structural problem" when it comes to fires and firefighting.
Several government ministers were deployed today to visit other affected municipalities in order to carry out a survey of the aftermath of the second most deadly series of fires this year.
Environmental association, Quercus, said today that it deeply regrets the catastrophe that again has hit the country, and has caused such a high number of deaths as well as the destruction of so many hectares of forest.
“Recent failures are the result of decades of neglect of land and forest management, which in a severe and extreme drought and with high temperatures and high winds have created the conditions for fires of enormous violence,” stated Quercus, adding that many fires were caused by “negligent human hand” and that there should be a big campaign to educate people in fire prevention to avoid risks.
Assunção Cristas, the leader of the opposition CDS party, is not in an emollient mood and is to lodge a motion of censure over the government’s "serious failure of one of the essential functions of the State: to protect its people."
Cristas has told the current PSD leader, Pedro Passos Coelho, and the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, what she is planning and the motion will be delivered to parliament this Thursday or Friday for debate next Tuesday or Wednesday.
Due to the balance of party power in parliament and the absolute majority needed for the motion to be successful, it is improbable that the motion will have its intended effect of bringing down the government but is embarrassing for the Socialist Party, none-the-less.
In her justification for taking this pretty heavy option, Assunção Cristas said that given the "repetition" of the tragedy, it was necessary to "give voice to the indignation."
"Four months ago, we were stunned into silence, united in the pain of all and in national mourning, and today we are united in pain but today this motion is giving voice to the indignation of all at the repetition of a tragedy like this," explained Cristas, adding that,
“We are giving voice to many people across the country who are outraged by a prime minister and a government which are not up to their responsibilities. The CDS position is this, it's very clear: whoever shares this vision with us will surely be on our side."
"The prime minister did not act, did not correct the mistakes, did not assume the responsibilities and was guided by inaction. In this repeated tragedy the government does not recognise a single mistake, does not make a single apology, does not take the lead to compensate the families of the victims. It is not enough to approve measures for the medium and long term," Cristas said.
Assunção Cristas explained that the decision to lodge a parliamentary motion was taken after the CDS had had time to read through and analyse the report on the June 17, Pedrógão Grande fires. The report was released yesterday by Professor Xavier Viegas as head of the independent technical commission and made damning reading (here), coming hot on the heels of an earlier report that blamed operational commanders for just about everything that went wrong and led to 64 people dying. (here)
"We conclude that the reports are clear on the flaws in fire prevention and firefighting, and that if the available equipment had been used it would have been possible to avoid the worst. The state failed to prevent and combat the fires and have failed to help victims," she said.
The Social Democratic Party this evening decided to vote with Cristas on her parliamentary motion, adding pressure on the socialist prime minister to ensure he has the full support of his left wing props.
But even with the PSD joining the CDS, it is unlikely that the motion of censure will be approved. This requires an absolute majority of 116 MPs. The right-wing parties together total 107 MPs. It would be necessary, therefore, for nine socialist or left wing MPs to vote for the motion to bring down the Government.
