Government decrees three days of national mourning in memory of victims of the fire in Pedrógão Grande

The Council of Ministers approved a decree declaring national mourning for three days, between today and Tuesday, for the victims […]

File Image|Nelson Inácio

The Council of Ministers approved a decree declaring national mourning for three days, between today and Tuesday, for the victims of the fire that broke out in the municipality of Pedrógão Grande and affected several municipalities.

In a statement, the Government said that this decree was approved “making use of the electronic decision-making facility provided for in the terms of the Regulations of the Council of Ministers”.

The decree, reads in the statement, "takes into effect on June 18, 2017 [today] and enters into force immediately."

At least 62 people have died in the fire that has affected Pedrógão Grande and two other municipalities in the district of Leiria since Saturday, said today the Secretary of State for Internal Affairs, Jorge Gomes.

The previous balance was 58 casualties.

However, the agenda of the President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is suspended until Tuesday, due to the tragedy that occurred in the Pedrógão Grande area, informed today to the Lusa agency, source from Belém.

The President of the Republic had scheduled for today the awarding of the D. Diniz Prize, from the Fundação da Casa Mateus, to the writer Mário Cláudio.

The prime minister is currently [at 13:50] in Pedrógão Grande, heading a government delegation, made up of the ministers of Planning and Infrastructure, Pedro Marques, Agriculture, Capoulas Santos, and the Secretary of State for Social Security, Claudia Joaquim.

According to an official source of the executive, on the ground, António Costa is having meetings with mayors to prepare the post-fire planning and will also convey a word of comfort and solidarity to the victims' families and elements of the fire brigades.

Early this morning, at 00:35, the prime minister was at the National Civil Protection Authority (ANPC), where he considered that the fire in Pedrógão Grande was “certainly the greatest tragedy” in Portugal in recent years.

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