Albergaria-a-Velha, Portugal - September 16, 2024

On Monday, September 16, 2024, the serene village of Albergaria-a-Velha in Portugal's Aveiro district was engulfed in flames, as captured by local resident Cristina in a harrowing video posted on X. The footage, which has since spread across social media platforms, shows a landscape transformed into a fiery hellscape, with flames and smoke dominating the once peaceful rural setting.

Cristina's post, titled "We are in hell, surrounded by fire," offers a firsthand account of the terror and scale of the wildfire. "It was like being in an oven, the heat was unbearable, and the smoke made it feel like the end of the world," she recounted in an interview following the incident.

The wildfire, one of several reported across Portugal over the past few days, has been particularly devastating in Albergaria-a-Velha. Emergency services have been stretched thin, with over 4,400 firefighters across the country currently tackling around 50 fires, according to the latest updates from the Portuguese authorities