Rui Minderico / LUSA
House in Fernão Ferro where a couple died due to heavy rain
The two fatal victims of the bad weather were 88 years old. They were in a house that was going to be demolished. Family does not consider the case closed.
It was the most tragic outcome of the complicated hours that Portugal went through this Thursday, because of: two people died in Fernão Ferro.
The couple were elderly and were at home. The two had 88 years and they would be sleep when they were surprised by rise in water level; They couldn’t escape, they were trapped. The woman had a panic button but they were unable to activate it.
According to the commander of the Mixed Firefighters of Seixal, the operatives entered the flooded house already “with the water down your chest”.
“When our people entered, we found the bodies of both of them lying float”, described José Mendes to journalists. When they took the victims out, they immediately tried resuscitation maneuvers, but nothing worked.
The family guarantees that the house’s backyard had flow. Neighbors – who called the firefighters before 9am – claim that the surrounding streets do not have the necessary drainage.
But there is an issue around the house: it was a illegal construction. “As are so many others here in the region”, said Joaquim Tavares, councilor for Civil Protection at Seixal City Council.
The couple lived in a house located in Pinhal de General – a house that was built in an Urban Area of Illegal Genesis next to a water line.
Paulo Silva, president of the Seixal City Council, told the Lusa agency that the house was “built clandestinely, without any municipal licensing, within the scope of the clandestine subdivision of Pinhal do General, which began in the 70s”.
The process for building infrastructure and regularizing water lines is underway, the mayor said.
CMTV reports that the house would be demolished to be transformed into a green space; homes waited for a place in a home. The councilor told journalists that he is not familiar with the process, so he does not know whether the house would be demolished.
The family of the deceased couple ensure that all taxes on the house were paid. CMTV indicates that the family wants to take the case to the courts.
