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,

Portugal's firefighters have mastered most of the deadly forest fires in the north of the country, according to official data Thursday.

Five thousand firefighters struggled Tuesday to contain multiple wildfires raging across northern Portugal that are blamed for causing three deaths and forcing an unknown number of residents to flee their homes.