Against the backdrop of yet another damning report blaming the authorities for a series of catastrophic decisions that led to so many deaths, the Portuguese Ombudsman has announced that a total of €31 million is being paid to the families of 114 victims of last summer’s devastating wildfires.
Talking to the press on Tuesday, Maria Lúcia Amaral said €31 million was the figure the government accepted due to the responsibility it had for the deaths that occurred in Pedrógão Grande in June, and further east in the interior on October 15.
In the most dramatic case, one ‘survivor’ who has been left without his father, mother and another family member, has been awarded a total of €300,000.
Other cases see immediate family members receiving €80,000 for each death and a further €60,000 for the suffering their loved one/s will have endured before death.
Amaral now has the task of apportioning awards for people who sustained serious injuries in the blazes but escaped with their lives.
This is perhaps even more difficult to decide, she agreed, saying that every case will be “exhaustively resolved by criteria” defined by a special council of experts.
This next phase “will be done in collaboration with the Institute of Legal Medicine”, and an online page has been designed to help answer people’s questions.
Meantime, the independent commission set up to report to parliament on the “largest fire ever in Portugal” has concluded that the number of deaths – and the terrible toll of damages to property – was not helped by Civil Protection’s insistence on reducing fire-response capabilities on September 30.
Says the report, the authority was well aware that serious fire risks continued beyond that date, yet it acted as if it were dealing with a “perfectly normal year”.
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
Photo: LUSA
