This Tuesday, Cape Verde marks the first of two days of official national mourning following the death of eight soldiers and equipment from the Ministry of the Environment while fighting a forest fire in Serra da Malagueta.
“The deaths that have occurred represent an irreparable loss for the families, for the government and for the entire people of Cape Verde,” the Council of Ministers said in a decree that approved the official national mourning.
For two days, the resolution establishes that the national flag is flown at half mast in all public buildings of the country, as well as in the diplomatic and consular missions of Cape Verde, with the cancellation of spectacles and public demonstrations.
At stake is the fight against a fire that broke out on Saturday at 10:30 (12:30 in Lisbon) in Serra Malagueta and Figueira das Naus, on the island of Santiago, 50 km north of Praia. On Sunday afternoon, a Cape Verdean Armed Forces vehicle crashed around 17:20 (19:20 in Lisbon), killing eight soldiers in the crash, and a technician from Serra da Malagueta Natural Pac also dies in these operations.
“The government deeply regrets the fateful events that took the lives of people who carried out a noble and difficult mission along with the firefighters of Tarrafal and Assomada,” the resolution on national official mourning says.
The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces (CEMFA) of Cape Verde, Antonio Duarte, assured on Monday that an investigation is underway into the causes that led to the accident, which killed eight soldiers fighting the fire.
At a press conference held in Praia, CEMFA said that while transporting 31 soldiers to support fire fighting in Serra da Malagueta on the island of Santiago “for reasons yet to be ascertained”, the military vehicle collided and overturned, causing immediate death of five operators. Ultimately, two soldiers died in the Tarrafal Medical Battalion and one in the Santiago Norte Detachment, in addition to 23 wounded, eight of whom are still in Praia Hospital.
Antonio Duarte explained that an “investigation is underway” to establish the “circumstances under which the accident occurred”, but ensured that the driver, one of the dead, was an “experienced” military man and that the vehicle delivered to the Armed Forces of the Force in 2021 was “prepared project” forces onto the ground.
He added that 36 military personnel had already been mobilized to fight the fire on Saturday and that the results of the investigation into this incident should be known within 15 to 20 days.
On Sunday afternoon, the flames, which were brought under control, were fought by 200 operators of almost all fire departments of the island of Santiago, as well as military personnel, supported by two heavy fire engines, four light firefighters. and three ambulances.
As a result of the fire, ten families were evacuated from the city of Figueira das Naus, resulting in five minor injuries and one person in serious condition, all of whom were taken to hospital.
However, the National Police announced the arrest of a man suspected of setting the park on fire.
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.”