The Government awarded a medal for distinguished public security services, gold grade, to the five GNR soldiers who died in the crash of their helicopter fighting rural fires, the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI) said this Thursday.
In a statement, the MAI says that the Minister of Internal Administration, Margarida Blasco, signed the order that allows the award, posthumously, of praise to the five members of the GNR Emergency Protection and Relief Unit (UEPC) who died, in August 30, when a helicopter from the Special Rural Fire Fighting Device (DECIR) crashed while returning from fighting a fire in Baião.
According to MAI, the praise, proposed by the commander of the National Republican Guard, “symbolizes the commitment to the memory of those who sacrificed their lives for Portugal, for the Portuguese and their public recognition”.
“Due to their military qualities and virtues, their permanent availability, remarkable bravery, proven effort and great dedication in public security service, these GNR soldiers are entirely deserving of being praised in public praise, for having provided extraordinarily important and distinguished services in favor of the public cause, to the GNR and to Portugal”, says the MAI.
At the end of the Council of Ministers this Thursday, the Minister of the Presidency announced that the government “in an unprecedented way” decided to posthumously promote the careers of the five GNR soldiers.
“This posthumous promotion obviously has consequences for status, recognition and conditions in relation to what they had and the situation that remains in the future in relation to recovery and compensation for the loss that the families suffered”, said Leitão Amaro.
At the beginning of the month, orders were published in the Diário da República that defined the amount of compensation to be awarded to each family, with the families of the five GNR soldiers receiving “special compensation for death” of 205 thousand euros each.
The five dispatches said that the five members of the GNR’s UEPC died “in the line of duty”.
The investigation into the accident concluded that it occurred “during the execution of the service” for which the GNR soldiers had been deployed and that there was “a causal link between the risk inherent to the police or security function and the death of the soldier “, thus “all the necessary conditions for granting special compensation for death” provided for by law are met.
The amount of compensation was calculated based on “250 times the minimum guaranteed monthly remuneration, which at the date of the soldier’s death was set at 820 euros”, so the value of the “special compensation for death” to be awarded is 205 thousand euros.
On August 30, a forest firefighting helicopter crashed into the Douro River near the town of Samodães, in Lamego, killing five GNR soldiers, aged between 29 and 45. The pilot of the aircraft was rescued alive, with only minor injuries.
The helitransported team was returning to the Armamar Air Means Center (CMA), where it was based, coming from a fire in the municipality of Baião.
The causes of the accident are not yet known.
The Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft Accidents and Railway Accidents (GPIAAF), a Portuguese State body, has a team on the ground investigating the accident.
The Public Ministry also opened an investigation into the helicopter crash.
Source: www.cmjornal.pt
