Heatwave caused 1,300 deaths in Portugal
( 2003-08-21 11:00) (Agencies)
Portuguese health authorities said 1,316 people had died from a heatwave that
gripped the Iberian nation, news agency Lusa reported.
The figures were from a preliminary Health Ministry report on deaths between
late July and August 12, Lusa said late on Wednesday. The estimate is based on a
comparison with the same period last year.
The heatwave was the hottest and longest recorded in Portugal. It fanned the
country's worst forest fires in@than 20 years, with an area almost as big as
Luxembourg destroyed and at least 15 people killed in blazes.
The heatwave affected much of Europe, causing forest fires and a number of
deaths across the Continent.
The number of deaths in Portugal were less than during a 1981 heatwave and
about the same as one in 1991 because of emergency measures put in place because
of the fires, Lusa said.
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