Five thousand firefighters are struggling to contain multiple wildfires raging across northern Portugal that are blamed for causing at least six deaths and forcing an unknown number of residents to flee their homes.

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.

Nearly a month after wildfires blazed on the Portuguese island of Madeira, more fires have broken out in mainland Portugal . Seven people have reportedly died so far in the fires, which are spreading between the northern district of Aveiro and Porto .