Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 31^st July 2024

Good morning. We start with some sad news and that is a nine-year-old girl has died following an attack in northwest England, police confirm, raising the death toll to three children from the stabbings at a yoga and dance class. All three victims were girls and five children and two adults remain in a critical condition.

Portugal Communities Minister Jose Cesario has confirmed that a nine-year-old Portuguese girl Alice Aguiar, originally from Madeira, had been killed in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop on Hart Street in Southport on Monday. This is a simply a horrific and senseless attack and our condolences go the families and friends of the victims. Typical of social media, a name has been shared on social media in connection with the suspect in the incident in Southport,” police said on Tuesday. “This name is incorrect and we would urge people not to speculate on details of the incident while the investigation is ongoing.”

Also on the subject of violence, four young Dutch holidaymakers were violently stabbed in the early hours of Monday morning in Albufeira. A fifth received light stab wounds. All were transported to hospital. Literally within hours of the minister of interior administration visiting the town grappling to control anti-social “excessive behaviour”, this latest incident occurred – again in the ‘incident blackspot’ of downtown Oura.

According to reports, the young group of Dutch – aged between 17 and 21 – were returning to their holiday village in the early hours when they “started to complain because of the loud music coming from one of the apartments. “The aggressors, holidaymakers from the Republic of Ireland, allegedly went to get knives and attacked the victims”. Emergency services were quickly called to the scene: 32 operatives and 12 vehicles from the fire stations of Albufeira and Messines, as well as INEM medical response and GNR police. Three knives were “seized”. PJ police are now investigating. This will do nothing to improve the reputation of this part of Albufeira which has developed a reputation for late night disturbances over several years. Planning is at an advance stage to install 70 CCTV cameras, to help provide a deterrence, enforcement and monitoring the situation.

Google’s forest fire mapping tool, which is based on artificial intelligence (AI) technology, is being launched in 15 new countries in Europe, including Portugal, and Africa the technology company announced yesterday. According to estimates, “the European territory prone to fires has doubled in the last 50 years”, says Yossi Matias, vice president and head of Google Research, in a post on the Google Portugal blog. This will particulary assist those travellers through these countries being able to identify major fires along their planed route and therefore avoid them. Safe Communities has issued, on Facebook, details of how to access this through Google Maps. An excellent and well needed initiative. https://portugal.googleblog.com/?

The ANSR Road Safety association ANSR launches the “Safe the Holidays” campaign, which runs until September 1st and aims to raise awareness among drivers about the need to ensure their road safety, as well as of everyone who travels on the road. Being this time of the year when there is an increase in travel on Portuguese roads, ANSR calls for everybody’s cooperation in adopting safe behaviours: Perform vehicle maintenance before departure; Respect the speed limits; If you drink, don’t drive; Don’t distract yourself with your mobile phone; Always wear your seatbelt; Respect the safety distances and stop for a rest on long journeys.

Our team wish everyone a safe week ahead,

News

Defence Minister highlights the role of the armed forces in preventing fires

Marinha Grande, Leiria, 30 Jul 2024 (Lusa) – The Minister of defence today highlighted the role of the Armed Forces in preventing and detecting rural fires, after monitoring a patrol in the national forest, in Marinha Grande.

“The military is not in the barracks, they are working every day for the benefit of the population. This applies to fire prevention, search and rescue operations, medical emergencies, organ transportation, and combating human trafficking and drug trafficking,” Nuno Melo told reporters.

For the Minister of Defence, the “Armed Forces are always there and that is very relevant”.

Nuno Melo explained that the role of the military is to “detect fires, in collaboration with the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests [ICNF], together with other entities, so that, in an articulated manner, this mission is more effective”, so that at the end of the fire season “they have not happened”.

And if they didn’t happen, it’s because “there was prevention and this prevention takes a lot of work and involves a lot of investment and a lot of coordinated effort”.

According to the data presented, there are 32 patrols monitoring the forest territory, supporting the ICNF. “We also have engineering detachments, which are essential for shaping the terrain so that firefighters can attack the fire itself. Then we have our platoons, which do the aftermath, surveillance and mitigate possible rekindling”, explained Colonel Tiago Lopes, commander of the Military Emergency Support Unit.

Nuno Melo stressed that his presence on one of the patrols is a way of showing the Portuguese that “in times of peace, the military performs multiple tasks for the daily benefit of the population and among these tasks, fire prevention actions”.

“And when fires do not occur in Portugal, it is often precisely because the armed forces, along with other entities, are committed to these actions, which are fundamental”, stressed the minister.

Bathing and fishing banned in the Douro due to pollutant discharge after fire in Porto

Bathing and recreational fishing were prohibited this Tuesday as a precaution between the cement pier and the mouth of the Douro, in Porto, due to the discharge of polluting materials into the Granja River caused by the fire in the Nors group.

“An edict was published prohibiting bathing and recreational fishing along the entire stretch, from the cement pier [near the Casa d’Oro restaurant] to the mouth of the Douro River as a precaution”, said today the captain of the Port and local commander of the Douro and Leixões Maritime Police.

Speaking to journalists at Largo do Calém, where work is underway to clean the waters due to the discharge of polluting materials from the fire that occurred on Monday in the industrial area of ​​Porto, Silva Lampreia stated that the ban “does not affect any river beach” . The ban covers a stretch of approximately 2.7 kilometres.

Porto City Council is trying to minimize the effects of the discharge of polluting materials into the mouth of the Granja River and consequently into the Douro River, estimating that cleaning work will be completed on Wednesday.

The fire affected the offices of Auto Sueco Portugal, Aftermarket Portugal and Amplitude Seguros, companies in the Nors group.