The president of the PSD (Social Democratic Party) said today that “the country cannot forget” the fires that broke out in Pedrógão Grande, which killed 66 people, on the day six years after the tragedy.
In a post on the social network Twitter, Luís Montenegro sends his “deepest condolences to the victims and families of Pedrógão Grande, Figueiró dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera”.
“Today marks six years and the country cannot forget”, the social democrat stresses.
The fires that broke out on June 17, 2017 in Pedrógão Grande, and spread to neighboring municipalities, caused the death of 66 people, as well as injuries to 253 others, seven of them serious. The fires destroyed around half a thousand homes and 50 businesses.
Most of the dead were found on National Road (EN) 236-1, which links Castanheira de Pera and Figueiró dos Vinhos, near which a memorial was erected by architect Eduardo Souto Moura.
In October of the same year, other fires in the Central region caused 49 deaths and around 70 injuries, as well as the total or partial destruction of around 1,500 homes and more than 500 businesses.
A memorial dedicated to the 115 victims of the 2017 fires opens today
