The population of Vila da Rua gathered at the main church to bid farewell to the soldier who was born there and died in the Douro River following the crash of a helicopter that was part of the firefighting operation.
The ceremony began 15 minutes late to accommodate the presence of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, who had spent about 10 minutes in Sande, Lamego, speaking with the family of another soldier whose funeral was held at the same time, 18:00.
The President of the Republic, who attended part of the mass and addressed the GNR soldiers and the family of the soldier from Sande, arrived in Vila da Rua, about 50 kilometers away, at 19:15 and participated in the funeral procession, staying with the family at the end.
The Prime Minister left after the funeral mass, which was presided over by the Bishop of Lamego, António Couto, assisted by Cardinal Américo Aguiar, Bishop of Setúbal.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was accompanied by deputies and government members, such as the Secretaries of State for Civil Protection, Paulo Simões Ribeiro, and for Forests, Rui Ladeira.
The ceremony was also attended by high-ranking civil and military officials, including the Commander-General of the GNR, and the president and commander of the National Civil Protection Authority, as well as commanders of fire departments and local authorities from the Viseu region.
The soldier from Vila da Rua, Moimenta da Beira, was one of the five occupants of the firefighting helicopter that crashed into the Douro River on Friday, returning from Baião to Armamar, where it was based at the Air Resources Center.
As in Lamego and Sande, applause was the way for those present in Vila da Rua to honor and thank the soldiers who died in service, as well as a gun salute at the cemetery gates.
The fifth soldier, whose body was found on Saturday afternoon, will have funeral ceremonies on Monday in Castro Daire at 16:00, and the Prime Minister has already confirmed his attendance.
The forest firefighting helicopter crashed into the Douro River on Friday, near the town of Samodães, Lamego, carrying a pilot and a team of five soldiers from the Emergency Protection and Rescue Unit (UEPC) who were returning from a fire in the municipality of Baião.
The aircraft pilot was rescued alive with only minor injuries.
On Friday, the bodies of four GNR soldiers were located. The fifth was found on Saturday afternoon after intense searches in the area.
The causes of the accident are not yet known.
The Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft Accidents and Railway Accidents (GPIAAF), a Portuguese State body, has a team on the ground investigating the accident.
