More Than 60 Perish in Wildfire in Portugal

PEDROGAO GRANDE, Portugal (AP) — More than 2,000 firefighters in Portugal battled Monday to contain major wildfires in the central region of the country, where one blaze killed 62 people, while authorities came under mounting criticism for not doing more to prevent the tragedy.

Reinforcements, including more water-dropping planes from Spain, France and Italy, were due to arrive as part of a European Union cooperation program, officials said.

Portugal is observing three days of national mourning after the deaths Saturday night around the town of Pedrogao Grande, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Lisbon, which is by far the deadliest on record.

Scorching weather, with temperatures surpassing 40 C (104 F), as well as strong winds and dry woodland after weeks with little rain fueled the blazes. The fire area is covered in dense woodland over steep hills.

Meanwhile, Portugal’s leading environmental lobby group, Quercus, issued a statement Monday blaming the blazes on “forest management errors and bad political decisions” by governments over recent decades.

The association rebuked authorities for allowing the planting of huge swathes of eucalyptus , the country’s most common and most profitable species — but one that’s often blamed for stoking blazes. Quercus also said official bodies don’t do enough to coordinate wildfire prevention.