An extreme wind phenomenon, likely a tornado, struck Albufeira in Portugal's Algarve region on Saturday morning, injuring 21 people and leaving one person missing. Three of the injured remain in serious condition. The incident damaged Hotel Eden and a nearby campsite, prompting a major emergency response with emergency teams deploying over 60 personnel and 25 vehicles.
The Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command told Portuguese outlet Sul Informação: "It was a phenomenon of strong winds, an extreme wind phenomenon, that affected two units, a campsite and a hotel unit."
Casualties and Search Efforts
At Hotel Eden, the phenomenon injured 19 people, one seriously. At the campsite, two people suffered serious injuries and one person went missing.
Emergency services continue to search for the missing individual.
Emergency services transported seriously injured victims to Faro Hospital, while those with minor injuries received treatment at the Albufeira Health Center.
Civil Protection confirmed: "We continue to search for the missing person. A number of structures were affected. A number of caravans in the campsite, as well as the roof of the hotel unit, were also affected and caused damage."
Classification Uncertainty
Civil Protection has not officially classified the event as a tornado. Officials stated: "The IPMA [Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere] classifies these events; we don't yet have that information. What we do know is that it was an extreme wind phenomenon."
However, meteorologist Bruno Gonçalves from MeteoFontes recorded a tornado in nearby Ferragudo, where it toppled numerous trees near a campsite before moving toward Lagoa.
The incident occurred as the Spanish Meteorological Agency named Storm Claudia, which brought heavy rain and strong winds to Spain and Portugal this week. The storm previously caused heavy downpours in England and Wales on Friday.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
