Thousands of firefighters tackling deadly wildfires in central and northern Portugal had largely doused the flames in the Aveiro district, one of the worst-hit, as of Thursday morning, and were focusing on a dozen blazes still raging elsewhere.

More than 100 wildfires stretched thousands of firefighters to the limit in northern Portugal on Wednesday, with seven deaths since the worst spate of fires in recent years spread out of control over the weekend.

At least seven people have died after wildfires in the Aveiro and Viseu areas of Portugal, although cooler weather has helped tackle the flames. Dozens of homes have been destroyed and tens of thousands of hectares of forest and scrubland have been lost to the flames.

By Pedro Nunes and Silvio Castellanos NELAS, Portugal (Reuters) -Three Portuguese firefighters died on Tuesday in one of dozens of forest blazes ravaging the country's central and northern regions, bringing the death toll from the latest wildfires to seven people since Saturday,

Thousands of firefighters continued their efforts to extinguish over 100 wildfires in northern Portugal on Wednesday.

Firefighters are battling blazes in the region of Aveiro and other areas of northern Portugal for a fourth day after temperatures increased earlier this week.

Portuguese police have arrested 14 suspected arsonists this week, who may have set some of the dozens of deadly wildfires raging across the country, contributing to the fire risks stemming from climate change and rural depopulation.