Rajoy confirms Galicia fires 'deliberately started'
Monday, October 16, 2017 @ 10:55 PM
SPANISH president Mariano Rajoy has confirmed that the devastating infernos currently destroying Galicia were started deliberately.
They were ignited in at least 200 places and, although some are under control, between 30 and 80 fires have been burning at any one time since Wednesday, with 14 of them posing an extreme danger to the population.
Some have joined up with the northern end of Portugal's 300 fires and have even jumped the river Miño for the first time in known history, the water course that separates Galicia from the neighbouring country to the south.
Four people have died – two women, thought to be pensioners, trapped on the road in their van by flames in Nigrán (Pontevedra province) as they tried to drive away from the danger area, plus two men on separate occasions attempting to put out flames near their property.
Rajoy has given instructions to the Guardia Civil and National Police to 'multiply their efforts' to catch the culprits, saying: “This is no coincidence.”
Regional president of Galicia, also on the PP – like Rajoy – Alberto Núñez Feijoo, has come under fire from residents for having slashed forestry brigadiers' jobs recently, meaning resources are more scarce than usual.
But Feijoo insists the emergency response team is up to the job.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com