Death toll in Portugal forest fires rises to 62

The number of people killed in the forest fires raging in central Portugal has risen to 62, with 54 others injured, State Secretary of Internal Affairs Ministry Jorge Gomes said Sunday.

Police investigators stand by a burnt car on the road between Castanheira de Pera and Figueiro dos Vinhos, central Portugal, Sunday, June 18 2017. [Photo: AP]

Gomes told reporters that among the dead, two of them are victims of a road accident, while four of the injured are in serious condition.

Firefighters of the Portuguese National Republican Guard work to stop a forest fire from reaching the village of Avelar, central Portugal, at sunrise Sunday, June 18 2017. [Photo: AP]

The Portuguese government has declared the state of emergency in the fire area, and also a three-day national mourning from Sunday and Tuesday.

Firefighters of the Portuguese National Republican Guard work to stop a forest fire from reaching the village of Avelar, central Portugal, at sunrise Sunday, June 18 2017. [Photo: AP]

The fires broke out Saturday in Pedrogao Grande, some 150 km northeast of Lisbon, and quickly spread to the towns of Figueird dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera in the district of Leiria, where firefighters are still battling the fire

A man on the balcony of a house looks up at a forest fire raging on a hillside above the village of Avelar, central Portugal, before sunrise Sunday, June 18, 2017. [Photo: AP]