Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
LISBON, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) — Some 139,000 hectares of land have burned in Portugal this year, with nearly half of it destroyed in the past two days. That's 17 times the area burned in the same period last year, according to preliminary data released Saturday by the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF).
The ICNF said 74,931 hectares had burned from January 1 to August 14. By Saturday, that figure had risen to 139,091 hectares, with 64,160 hectares burned in the last two days alone — 46 percent of the year's total.
To date, a total of 6,229 fires have been registered in rural areas: 50 percent in bushland, 40 percent in forests and 10 percent in agricultural land. Compared to the same period last year, the number of fires has increased by 79 percent, the ICNF noted.
Portugal has been on high alert over the risk of wildfires since August 2. The European Commission said on Saturday that two firefighting planes requested by Portugal would arrive on Sunday.
The country also reported its first fatal fire of the summer on Friday.
The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority said 44 forest fires were still burning across Portugal as of 12:30 p.m. Saturday. –0–
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