Chile expects the tally to rise to 51 deaths because of that Forest fires There is no truce while the maxims Government authorities warn of “complicated circumstances” this Sunday in full length Heat wave.
According to the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred), the flames have so far destroyed 25,567 hectares in the country’s central regions of Valparaíso, Metropolitana, O’Higgins, as well as in the south in Maule, La Araucanía and Los Lakes.
The national director of Senapred, Álvaro Hormazábal, held this Sunday the first press conference on the forest fires in the country, emphasizing that 34 fires are in combat and 43 are under control.
In addition, he explained that “(meteorological) conditions will continue to be complicated,” although not to the intensity of previous days.
The heartbreaking testimonies of victims who lost their homes and families, as well as the images of flames covering populated hills in Viña del Mar, in the Valparaíso region, prompted Pope Francis to highlight this Chilean disaster.
The pope leaned out of the window of the Apostolic Palace and asked to pray “for the dead and injured in the devastating fires in Chile” after Sunday’s Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square.
In Santiago, Interior Minister Carolina Tohá announced the latest death toll of 51 in the fires, but warned that the number of victims would be even higher.
“It was undoubtedly the fire that claimed the most lives and probably the emergency situation following the 2010 earthquake will have claimed the most lives in Chile in recent times,” he said, referring to the magnitude 8 earthquake. ,8, which was followed by a tsunami that occurred on February 27, 2010, claiming more than 500 lives.
Forest fires broke out in the middle and south of the country in the middle of last week, accompanied by an unprecedented wave of extreme heat. Several of these fires reactivated very aggressively and quickly on Friday afternoon, threatening thousands of people living in dry hills in the Valparaíso region.
“The scenarios will continue to lead to wildfires,” warned Valparaíso’s Disaster Risk Management Committee (Cogrid). AFP