AVELAR, PORTUGAL(AP) - Raging forest fires in central Portugal killed at least 43 people, many of them trapped in their cars as flames swept over a road, in what Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Sunday called "the biggest tragedy of human life that we have known in years." Nearly 60 other people were injured, including four firefighters and a seriously injured minor, public broadcaster RTP reported, citing Interior Ministry official Jorge Gomes. The Latest on Portugal forest fires (all times local):

Portugal’s interior minister says that the death toll in the forest fires raging in the center of the country has increased to 39. Authorities had previously said that temperatures which have soared to 40C in recent days might have played a part in the inferno, centred about 95 miles north-east of the capital Lisbon. It hires aircraft from private companies or relies on the European Union's sharing program under which neighboring countries such as Spain, France and Italy send in aircraft when they can.
The death toll from forest fires in Pedrógão Grande, central Portugal, rises to at least 62. Many victims were trapped on the road between the towns of Figueiró dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera.