The death toll from a car crash Sunday in the Serra da Malagueta, Cape Verde Island in Santiago, has risen to nine, killing a technician from the natural park, according to an official source.
According to a source at the Cape Verdean Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the ninth victim was a technician from the Serra da Malagueta Natural Park, and the death also came from an accident with a truck of the Cape Verdean armed forces.
The Office of the Chief of Staff of the Cape Verdean Armed Forces initially mentioned seven deaths in a military vehicle crash that occurred at 17:20 (19:20 on Sunday in Lisbon) in which operatives seconded missions to support firefighting that broke out in Serra Malagueta and Figueira das Naus, about 50 km north of the city of Praia.
However, this number has been updated to eight soldiers, plus a few seriously wounded, and now to nine.
“It is also reported that the entire medical team of the Armed Forces was immediately activated to support the health services that received the victims and provide all necessary support,” the previous statement added.
Cape Verdean Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva announced early on Sunday that the government had “decided to declare two days of national mourning in memory of the victims” of the accident.
“I am following this tragic situation, so on behalf of the government of Cape Verde, I express my full solidarity with the family members and the institution of the armed forces. Our fears and wishes for the recovery of the wounded, some of whom are in serious condition, including an employee of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment,” the head of government, who is due to visit the site of the fire this Monday, said in a statement.
According to a source from the National Civil Protection Service of Cape Verde, the fire broke out on Saturday at 10:30 (12:30 in Lisbon), engulfing Serra Malagueta, Figueira das Naus and Fundura.
On Sunday afternoon, 200 operators from virtually every fire station on Santiago Island, as well as military personnel, fought the fire with the support of two heavy fire engines, four light fire engines and three ambulances.
As a result of the fire, ten families were evacuated from the city of Figueira das Naus, as a result of which five people were slightly injured and one in serious condition, all of whom were taken to hospital.
Cape Verdean President José María Neves, who is on an official visit to the United States, also expressed “deep dismay at the fire, which has already engulfed a significant area of the forest perimeter of the Serra da Malagueta, and has also caused loss of life.”
“The head of state understands that huge trials and deep sorrow await the whole country. The President of the Republic expresses his deepest condolences to the families of the victims, wishes them to find the strength to endure this moment of deepest loss and suffering. inside the family,” he said in a statement from the President of the Republic.
“The head of state welcomes the enormous efforts that have been made from the very beginning to put out this fire of tragic proportions for our reality, and also appeals to the sense of unity of the whole nation for the solidarity that is imposed,” he added.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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