The results of a violent fire which broke out in a shantytown in southern Chile are particularly tragic. Fourteen Venezuelan migrants, including several children, died Monday in Coronel, the town hall announced.
“We regret to announce the death of 14 residents of our town. These are three families, eight minors, six adults, who died due to this fire which destroyed their homes,” declared Javier Valencia, deputy mayor of this city located 530 km south of Santiago.
Families living in extreme precariousness
“These are Venezuelan families” living in extreme precariousness in two overcrowded accommodations, added the deputy. It was “very difficult for the emergency services to reach them in good conditions to be able to help them”.
The exact causes of the incident remain to be determined, but according to the first elements of the investigation, the fire started from a stove made by the victims to protect themselves from the cold.
More and more Venezuelan migrants since 2017
Since the serious economic and political crisis that erupted in Venezuela in 2017, the number of migrants from that country has increased significantly in Chile.
Thousands of them arrived on foot via Bolivia or Peru, through clandestine crossing points, and the movement grew during the Covid-19 pandemic. These migrants often crowd into shanty towns built on non-buildable land, where fires and accidents occur regularly.