More than 250 people will be offering assistance to the thousands of pilgrims heading for the sanctuary in Fátima particularly on 12 and 13 May, the Civil Protection service said on Thursday, 10 May.

The force will include firemen, ambulance, medical emergency teams, the Red Cross and Scouts.

Fátima attracts thousands of pilgrims every year to celebrate the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to three shepherd children on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917, starting on 13 May.

(Photograph: Francisco Antunes/All Rights Reserved)