Portugal Records Largest Forest Fire in Its History

A forest fire that broke out in central Portugal has become the largest in the country's history. This was reported by the AFP agency, citing data from Portugal's Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF).

A representative of the Civil Protection Department, Telmo Ferreira, informed the agency that the blaze, raging for more than 10 days across seven municipalities on the borders of Coimbra, Guarda, and Castelo Branco, has destroyed nearly 64,500 hectares of land.

According to ICNF, this is the largest fire ever recorded in Portugal, surpassing the previous record set in October 2017 when a forest fire destroyed 53,000 hectares.

The fire, which originated from several lightning strikes in hard-to-access areas, has been localized as of August 25.