The fatalities amount to 24, there are 26 people hospitalized with severe burns and close to a thousand wounded. Hundreds of people have had to leave their homes, since the fire has already destroyed more than 100,000 hectares of land.
Euskaraz irakurri: 10 atxilotu Txilen, suteekin zerikusia dutelakoan
The terrible fires that have been registered since last Friday in the center of Chile do not give a truce and are already 24 people deceased.
While the fight to control the dozens of active sources continues, the investigation has also advanced on Sunday since, according to what the Government of Chile has reported, they have been 10 people arrested for their alleged involvement in the fires. Chilean President Gabriel Boric, who suspended his vacation in Patagonia on Friday to travel to areas affected by the fires, said there are “indications” that some of the fires occurred due to “unauthorized burning.”
The Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, has warned at a press conference that the law is very harsh in these cases, with penalties ranging from five to twenty years in prison.
In the last few hours, a man who was hospitalized in the town of Angol, in the La Araucanía region, has died due to serious injuries, which has increased the death toll to 24.
Monsalve has also indicated that “there are 26 people hospitalized” with serious burns, and that more than 100,000 hectares. The most affected regions are Maule, Ñuble, Biobío and La Araucanía, areas of intense agricultural and forestry activity located 400, 500 and 700 kilometers south of Santiago, respectively. The flames have destroyed approximately 800 homes in the Maule (3), Ñuble (207), Biobío (311) and La Araucanía (279) regions, according to estimates.
According to the latest report from the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) of the Chilean Ministry of the Interior, the flames have already left 1,801 people homeless, 977 injured and 1,475 in shelters prepared to shelter the population of the affected localities. A total of 150 outbreaks are already under control, and there are around 50 still uncontrolled.
The fires coincide with a long drought that already lasts more than thirteen years and with a heat wave with record temperatures that can reach 40 degrees in southern areas in the next few hours.
Fire map.
International aid
Countries like Spain, Argentina, Mexico or Colombia have already responded to the international call for help requested on Saturday by the Chilean government. The Spanish Government has sent a plane with a contingent of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) of the Spanish Armed Forces. The Chilean government spokeswoman, Camila Vallejo, assured today at a press conference that the arrival of 300 Mexican and 64 Argentine brigade members is being arranged, as well as technical material.
Source: Eitb
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