At least 19 dead in numerous fires in Chile

At least 19 people died in several fires that broke out simultaneously on Friday night in the Valparaíso region, 100 kilometers east of Santiago, and it is not excluded that the number of victims will increase with the hours, Chilean authorities reported on Saturday.

“The death report is very provisional. All the victims we have confirmed are from the same sector, Villa Independencia, in the Achupallas sector (…) So far, 19 people have died, of which 15 have been identified,” said Minister of the Interior Carolina Tohá at a press conference.

Tohá indicated that there are “reports in other places where there are indications that there may be more dead, but there is no confirmation on the ground.”

The fire, which is not yet under control, has so far destroyed a thousand homes in various locations in the region, where President Gabriel Borić declared a state of emergency due to the disaster in order to mobilize the necessary resources to deal with the emergency.

“We will have all the technical and human resources to fight forest fires because the safety of the family is always a priority. We will not leave them alone!”the president announced on his X account that he will fly over the area on Saturday at noon.

Authorities imposed a curfew for this Saturday from 08:00 (11:00 GMT) local time until noon in several cities in the region to speed up the arrival of emergency services and avoid unnecessary travel, a measure that “has served” and could be repeated overnight , Tohá reported.

“From yesterday to today, we went from 30,000 to 43,000 hectares burned,” said the minister, who did not rule out that several outbreaks were intentional and admitted that he was particularly concerned about the fire in Las Tablas, with at least 6,800 hectares. burned, and Lo Moscoso, with 1,150 hectares.

“The fire took place house by house,” he added.

Among the hardest hit urban sectors are the cities of Quilpué and Villa Alemana, as well as El Olivar, Achupallas or Canal de Chacao, which are located on the densely populated hills surrounding the coastal city of Viña del Mar.

“It was a disaster, people were crying, people started (to flee). The wave of fire started from the hill and it started to take house by house and there came a moment that was uncontrollable,” Héctor Liguri, a 47-year-old resident from Achupallas, he told EFE., the sector where 19 deaths were confirmed.

In El Olivar, another area of ​​Villamarin hard hit by the flames, “moments of anxiety and despair were experienced,” said Karina Aljaro, 39: “The effort of life was destroyed in a second. It’s terrible,” she lamented. neighbor.

“We arrived at 10 at night and it was hell. My daughter’s grandfather’s house was on fire,” said Ricardo, another resident of El Olivar.

The fires coincide with one of the most intense heat waves in recent years, with temperatures reaching 38 degrees in the central region.

“We are facing a complex and critical situation,” regional governor Rodrigo Mundaca admitted.

The national director of the National Service for Prevention and Response to Disasters (Senapred), Álvaro Hormázabal, warned that “conditions will be very similar to those of yesterday and it is possible that at noon the flames will rise again as strong gusts of wind are expected”.

Last year, Chile experienced the deadliest wave of fires in its history, which left 27 dead and thousands of homes destroyed in the central and southern regions of the country, such as La Araucanía, Biobío and Ñuble.

Although Chile experienced one of the wettest winters in 15 years, experts have warned for months that the drought has not been eradicated and that there is a high probability that fine, dead vegetation will develop in the central and southern regions. combustion.