A firefighter aged 46 has died this afternoon in floodwaters in the Alto Alentejo.
José Válter Canastreiro was on a mission to help families who had been stranded for more than 48-hours due to rising levels of the Caia river, between the municipalities of Elvas and Campo Maior.
A firefighter and a member of the GNR police, he was crossing a flooded area by foot when he suddenly “fell in a deep area, becoming totally submerged”, reports Rádio Elvas.
In spite of the immediate intervention of the team of colleagues with whom he was working – and the intervention of a VMER life-saving ambulance – his death was declared at the scene.
Tributes have been pouring in since Canastreiro’s death was announced. His passing is being seen as particularly devastating as he “lost his life at the service of the community, in an act of courage and dedication that will never be forgotten”, says one post.
The firefighter’s death brings the number of people lost in these recent days of endless storms to 14.
José Válter Canastreiro belonged to the Campo Maior fire station.
ANEPC, the national civil protection and emergency authority, has lamented the tragedy, leaving “a profound word of gratitude to all the men and women who, with courage and sense of mission, place their lives at risk to protect the lives and possessions of their fellow citizens”.
As all reports today are recalling, the ‘carousel of storms’ (Kristin, Leonardo and now Marta) has caused untold damage throughout the country, provoked many hundreds of injuries and displaced households; closed schools, businesses and public buildings; stopped railway and other public transport services – and left tens of thousands of people still without power, water and telecommunications.
Today, as Marta sweeps through the Alentejo going northwards another ‘problem’ suddenly becoming more evident are ‘landslides’, or incidents where walls/ properties/ hillsides are starting to ‘collapse’ due to the sheer quantity of water that has been bearing down on them for the last few weeks.
Source material: Rádio Elvas/ Expresso/ Lusa
