MADRID: Authorities in Portugal and Spain say that nine people died over the weekend in hundreds of wildfires fanned by strong winds caused by a hurricane.

Civil Protection authorities in Portugal said that six people died and at least 25 were injured, most of them firefighters, during blazes raging in central and northern areas of the country.

Officials in the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia said that three people, two of whom were trapped in a car, were killed as a result of more than 130 blazes reported in different areas.

Authorities in Galicia said that the strong winds from Hurricane Ophelia and high temperatures fanned the fires, but investigators are also focusing on human causes. Light rainfall early Monday was expected to help extinguish the flames.