The number of people who have died as a result of the devastating fires that since Friday have been devastating the central region of Valparaíso, 100 kilometers from Santiago, increased to 51 and the authorities of Chili This Saturday they referred to the tragedy as the most serious since the 2010 earthquake, which left 525 victims and thousands injured.
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“After the 2010 earthquake“The forest fires in Valparaíso will be the emergency situation that has generated the most victims in Chile in recent times,” said the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, in a press conference, who warned that the number of deaths will continue to grow with the passing of the hours.
“We still have a large part of the territory that is not accessible, consequently we do not have a complete survey of victims nor of the damaged homes and infrastructure,” he added.
The mayor of Viña del Mar, one of the cities most affected by the firesaid minutes before that the Municipality manages a provisional registry of 372 people missingwhich does not imply that all of them are dead but does give an idea of the magnitude of the tragedy.
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The deadliest wave of fires so far took place just a year ago and left 27 dead.
According to the latest report from the National Forestry Corporation, there are at least eight active fires currently in the region of Valparaiso100 kilometers east of the capital, four of which are of particular concern due to their virulence, rapid spread and proximity to densely populated areas.
The high and unusual temperatures that were recorded on Friday and Saturday in the region, the intense gusts of wind of up to 60 kilometers per hour and the low humidity are making it difficult to control the fire.
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President Gabriel Boric It decreed a state of emergency due to catastrophe on Friday, a tool that allows it to have the necessary resources to face the emergency, and this Saturday it flew over the most affected areas.
“I want to reiterate the call that, when told to evacuate, do not hesitate. He fire It is advancing very quickly and the weather conditions we have had have made fighting the fires much more complicated,” the president indicated hours before on a national network from the La Moneda presidential palace.
He fire Of greatest magnitude is in the Lago Peñuelas/Las Tablas Reserve, next to the main highway in the area, which has already burned nearly 8,000 hectares.
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“There is serious evidence that the origin of the most serious of these fireswhich is Las Tablas, could have been intentional,” the minister announced.
To facilitate rescue efforts and clear evacuation routes, the Chilean Government ordered a 12 hour curfewfrom 9:00 p.m. local time (00:00 GMT) in the sectors that have not yet been evacuated from the towns of Quilpué, Villa Alemana, Limache and Viña del Mar.
Tohá admitted “unprecedented difficulties in carrying out evacuations” and asked the population to obey the instructions of the authorities at all times.
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Although Chili has experienced one of the wettest winters in the last 15 years, specialists have been warning for months that the drought has not been eradicated and that there is a high probability that fine, dead vegetation will develop in the easily accessible central-southern area. combustion, to which is added the impact of a forestry model based on the monoculture of pine and eucalyptus.
