Firefighters tackling deadly wildfires in central and northern Portugal had doused the flames in the Aveiro district, one of the worst-hit, as of Thursday, and were focusing on eight large blazes still raging elsewhere.

In a relentless battle against the wildfires ravaging Portugal, the second day of operations saw two Canadair aircraft from Italy's Corpo Nazionale dei Vigili del Fuoco once again taking to the skies,

More than 5,000 personnel are battling a number of wildfires, the authorities said, and the prime minister called it an “extremely difficult weather situation.”