The Chilean authorities raised this Sunday 64 the death toll of the fires in the Valparaíso region, of which 32 have been identified, while the number of missing people exceeds 370. Chilean President Gabriel Boric released this new update during his visit to the Fernando Durán Villarreal school in Quilpué, in the Valparaíso region, reports the station Radio Bio Bio.
Boric also used the opportunity to announce that he would declare two days of national mourning for the victims of the fires. The Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, said that according to preliminary figures it would be somewhere in between 3,000 and 6,000 houses affected Due to the fire, measures are being taken to accommodate displaced families.
The President has also announced this The Cerro Castillo presidential palace in Viña del Mar opens for activities for boys, girls and young people who are victims of this tragedy, with teachers and carers.
Boric stated that he would assess the damage to the infrastructure and public works accompanied by the minister. On the other hand, he also pointed out that an assessment of the damage to public works is being carried out with the Minister of Public Works, Jessica López. As for the origin of the fires, Boric stressed that an investigation would be launched, described those responsible for the fires as “miserable” and warned that they would be prosecuted.
Boric had previously stated that the priorities were save lives first and foremost; Second, extinguish active fires; Third: recover bodies of the deceased. fourth, providing urgent support to victims in emergency shelters; Fifthly, ensuring public order with the carabineros and the armed forces, and sixthly and finally, collecting background information to investigate the origin of the fires. “We will stand up,” emphasized Boric in a message published on the social network X.
The governor of Valparaíso, Rodrigo Mundaca, also pointed out and highlighted the origin of the fire “Obviously there is intent here and that is why all authorities will exercise maximum severity.”. “Every possible prerogative will be used to find those responsible because the fires have turned into homicides,” he warned. “We will pursue them, we will search for them and we will imprison them because lives have been lost and material goods that are extremely important have been lost,” he stressed.
Almost 400 missing people reported
Meanwhile, Macarena Ripamontil, mayor of Viña del Mar, one of the municipalities hardest hit by the fires, said 372 reports of missing people had been received. “There are many deaths. There are many people who have lost everything and it is dramatic. There are no political colors at the moment. There are no personal intentions. There simply needs to be genuine affection from all sides for this to go well, and we need to make ourselves available to work in this emergency. I’m asking you please. “There is a lot of pain in Viña del Mar right now,” he explained.
For her part, the Chilean Interior Minister Carolina Tohá has pointed out that there are already “the fire that caused the most human casualtiesand it will probably be the emergency situation following the 2010 earthquake that has claimed the most casualties in Chile recently.”
Tohá also highlighted that “The capacities of the forensic medical service were strengthened during these hours“But that has to be increased tomorrow because there will probably be more demand for work after initial investigations have been carried out in these places,” he said.
He also pointed out that there is currently no complete overview of casualties or damaged homes or infrastructure, but “Roughly speaking, we know that 16 cities are affected.30 percent of these are Serviu condominiums, the remaining 70 percent are properties – many of them irregular – and warehouses. As for housing, we don’t have numbers, but we know there are thousands.”
“Serious prehistory” of intentionality
As other authorities point out, Tohá has stated: “There is serious evidence pointing to the origin of the most serious of these fires, which is the one in Las Tablas, could have been intentional. There are always rumors of this kind, but this time they are serious reports from reliable people.” “This is a cause for great concern because a fire that is causing this devastation and loss of life has been deliberately started by other people “an alarm of the utmost seriousness,” he warned.
For this reason, it was reported that the National Defense Headquarters ordered a ban on the transportation of fuel in barrels: “As I said, we have evidence that several of these fires were intentionaland we want to make any other attempt to start new outbreaks as difficult as possible.” “Secondly, any activity that involves the manipulation of fire is restricted, be it the use of machines that generate heat or sparks, or the creation of Bonfires in risk areas or where the fire is currently breaking out,” he added.