Emergencies
More than 110 dead in forest fires in Chile
Locals work among the rubble of burned-out houses. photo
© Cristobal Basaure/AP
Forest fires are raging again in Chile – especially around the picturesque coastal towns of Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. The number of victims is increasing.
During the fierce forest fires According to the latest authorities in Chile, at least 112 people have died so far. The Interior Ministry of the South American country announced late Sunday evening (local time) that 32 of the victims had already been identified.
“This is the worst tragedy our country has experienced since the 2010 earthquake,” said President Gabriel Boric during a visit to the disaster area in the Valparaíso region on the Pacific coast. At that time, more than 520 people were killed. Boric announced two days of national mourning starting Monday in honor of those who died.
A total of 188 fires
The forestry department registered 188 fires across the country on Sunday, covering a total area of almost 29,000 hectares. Thousands of houses were damaged or destroyed, more than 3,000 in the Valparaíso region alone, said Interior Minister Carolina Tohá.
The region west of the capital Santiago, where, according to the government, around 1.8 million people live, is the hardest hit by the fires. A fire has spread to an area of around 11,000 hectares near the coastal towns of Valparaíso and Viña del Mar, it said.
In summer in the southern hemisphere, serious forest fires occur again and again in Chile. Last year, more than 425,000 hectares of land burned in the center and south of Chile – roughly eight times the area of Lake Constance. At least 26 people were killed.
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