Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced on Saturday in the O'Higgins Room of the Palacio de La Moneda that the severe forest fires ravaging the central-southern part of the country have already claimed at least 46 lives. “I have confirmation that 40 people died in the fires and six other people were hospitalized as a result of the burns,” the president said of the conflagration that mainly affects the Valparaíso region and especially cities such as Viña del Mar and Quilpue. . Boric assured in his message that “the number of victims will increase in the coming hours.” The government had reported 19 deaths in the morning, mostly concentrated in Villa Independencia in the Achupallas sector in Viña del Mar.
Boric expressed his condolences to the relatives, friends and loved ones of the victims. He sent a “big hug” to those who lost their homes and thanked “deeply those who are doing their best to fight this tragedy”, especially the firefighters, the brigade members of the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf), the carabineros and Armed Forces personnel, health workers, municipal employees and civil servants, “in addition to civil society, which always rises up in the face of tragedies of this kind.”
The President stated that this tragedy may have been caused voluntarily. “The ultimate intent behind these fires is being investigated and while it is difficult to imagine who could be willing to cause so much tragedy and pain, know that this is being investigated to the fullest extent and with all necessary resources,” the president added . The armed forces and carabineros are monitoring the affected areas.
On Friday, the president declared a state of emergency due to the disaster in the provinces of Valparaíso and Marga Marga, which will allow his government to “have all the necessary resources” to combat the emergency and help families. He ordered the Ministry of Defense to deploy additional military units to the affected areas and called on the population to follow the instructions of the relevant authorities so as not to hinder rescue and fire-fighting operations. As announced hours before, the government, like the previous day, imposes a curfew from 9 p.m. on Saturday to 10 a.m. on Sunday in four municipalities: Limache, Quilpué, Villa Alemana and Viña del Mar. “It is essential to to ensure public order and the security of our compatriots. “We will use all the constitutional instruments at our disposal to ensure security and tranquility,” said the president, who flew over the disaster areas at midday.
A resident flees a forest fire in Viña del Mar. Esteban Felix (AP)
Boric said that the curfew will help clear the paths for emergency vehicles, facilitate evacuations and, moreover, help “to ensure that no one is in the places where the decision to evacuate is made,” referring on the looting This has already been reported in communities like Quilpué. Threats of robbery make it difficult for residents of burnt areas to leave their homes.
The fire, which affects the central-southern area of Chile, has already burned at least 43,000 hectares nationwide, according to the tally this Saturday morning. And in Viña del Mar it has gotten out of control. The fire chief of this city, Patricio Brito, has assured that the emergency this Saturday “became very complicated”. “It's chaos at the moment,” he admitted, later explaining that the available units were not enough to control the flames. Reinforcements had arrived from other regions, he said, but they were not sufficient. “We have a lot of burned houses and factories,” he said, referring to explosions like the one at the Tricolor paint factory in Viña del Mar’s industrial area.
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