Car-nage: outdoor festival fire chars hundreds of vehicles

LISBON, Portugal – The parking lot of an open-air music and dance festival in Portugal resembles a vehicle graveyard after a wildfire gutted 422 cars.

Police on Thursday inspected the long lines of charred vehicles and insurance investigators assessed the damage.

Authorities said there were no casualties in the blaze that broke out Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of some 4,000 people at the festival site in eastern Portugal.

Musician Pedro Mestre told broadcaster TVI that the cars exploded one after the other — “like popcorn” — as the fire spread quickly through the lot.

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