[WATCH] Portugal’s interior minister resigns after wildfires

Since fires broke out on Sunday, they have raged across northern and central Portugal, following the driest summer in nearly 90 years, killing at least 41 people and overwhelming rescue services and fire-fighters.

The interior ministry oversees all fire-fighters and the police, as well as the civil protection agency, all of which have faced criticism in the wake of the fires.

The minister’s resignation, which read “I didn’t have the political and personal conditions to continue in my post”,  was accepted in a statement, by Portugal’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa.

An opposition Politian launched a motion of no-confidence in the Socialist government on Tuesday.

The fires this year alone have, so far, burnt a total of 350,000 hectares of land, the worst since 2003. 

(Photo: NBC News)

(Photo: the Irish Times)