A 73-year-old woman died yesterday as the car she was travelling in was swept away by the force of waters in Castro Verde.
Three others miraculously escaped death by climbing out of a second car.
The horror played out around the same time that coastal areas in the Algarve were being battered by the second tornado of the week (click here).
The two cars were attempting to cross the normally passable Terges e Cobres stream.
The car in which the elderly woman was travelling also contained her husband who was found “in a very disoriented state” on the riverbank.
The second car also became submerged but its three occupants – all local to Castro Marim – managed to climb out beforehand.
Tabloid Correio da Manhã says the woman and her husband had been staying the weekend in São Marcos de Ataboeira but came from Lisbon.
All the survivors were taken to hospital, while the body of the dead woman was recovered around 8.3’pm. It was still in the VW Passat the roof of which was just visible above the water’s surface.
TRAIN DERAILS IN SANTA COMBA DÃO
With the whole country expecting further outbreaks of rain, a landslide – due to recent heavy rains – is believed to have been the cause behind the derailment of a passenger train at mortágua Santa Comba Dão (Viseu district) yesterday morning.
All 71 passengers as well the crew escaped unharmed, with rail authority CP laying on buses for the onward journey to Lisbon.
Mayor of Santa Comba Dão Leonel Gouveia has since told reporters that the line is of vital importance for the country, as it links the ports of Leixões and Aveiro to Europe, as well as all the central regions of the country and Spain”.
Gouveia said he hoped the recent lack of investment in the country’s rail network would now see a turnaround.
Coincidentally, a similar message – for less dramatic reasons – was sounded last month (click here).
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
