According to reports, the couple’s car skidded on the road and then crashed into a ravine. The charred remains of the victims were found by authorities who confirmed that they were 70 and 72 years old and were emigrants in France who had returned for a holiday.

The commander of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority, André Fernandes, confirmed that the car had “skidded and then rolled” and that the accident took place “in a burned area and the car was charred”.

These two deaths are counted by the authorities as having occurred within the scope of the fires, bringing the death toll to three, after pilot André Serra, who lost his life following the crash of the amphibious plane he commanded in the Foz Côa area.

The losses have already been regretted by both the President of the Republic and the Government. “Regardless of the context in which it took place and the causes that may have motivated it, I cannot help but deeply regret the road accident that led to two deaths in the municipality of Murça and express my feelings to the families of the victims”, reacted Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

The Minister of Internal Administration, José Luís Carneiro, expressed his “deepest condolences” to the family and friends of the elderly couple.

Penabeice belongs to the parish of Jou, which during the afternoon of this Monday was surrounded by flames. More than half of the forest area of ​​the municipality of Murça has already burned, in the order of three thousand hectares in just one day. Six villages in Murça were evacuated. The flames eventually reached two other municipalities: Vila Pouca de Aguiar and Valpaços.