At least 22 killed in forest fires in Chile: Security committee wants to make arms deliveries to Ukraine possible

The death toll in devastating wildfires in southern Chile has risen to at least 22. According to preliminary information, at least ten people are still missing in the municipality of Santa Juana in the Bío Bío region, Chilean Interior Minister Carolina Tohá made Saturday (local time). ) known.

Accordingly, 554 people were injured, 16 of them received serious injuries. Many houses were damaged or destroyed. According to the information, 1,429 people were housed in emergency shelters.

“In the last week of this crisis, the same area has been set on fire as in a very normal year,” Tohá said of the extent of the fires, which engulfed thousands of hectares in the area about 500 kilometers south of the capital Santiago de Chile. amid a heat wave with record temperatures. According to the Minister of the Interior, the number of fires has risen from about 200 on Friday to more than 250. Firefighters and local residents fought the fire.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric interrupted his vacation in Patagonia in the south of the country to visit the affected areas. The government has now also declared a state of emergency for the Araucaria region. This allows regions to limit certain rights and take extraordinary measures. For example, the military can be used. There was already a disaster in Ñuble and Bío Bío.

The causes of the fires were initially unclear. Boric had pointed out that residents would still have burned waste even at 42 degrees. (sda/dpa)