Chile: violent forest fires kill at least 13 people in the center of the country
Chileans watch the forest burn in Santa Juana on February 3, 2023. AFP - JAVIER TORRES
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At least 13 people died Friday in more than 200 forest fires in central Chile, where an intense heat wave is raging, announced the authorities who declared several regions in a state of disaster.
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"
We deplore 13 dead in total, 11 in the city of Santa Juana
(Biobío region),
a pilot of Bolivian nationality and a mechanic of Chilean nationality who crashed in a helicopter that was fighting fires
", declared Mauricio Tapia , Deputy National Director of the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred).
The crash of the aircraft occurred in the Galvarino sector, in the region of La Araucanía.
Authorities have identified 22 people injured, eight of them in serious condition, adding that more than 200 fires have so far devastated more than 40,000 hectares and completely destroyed 97 homes.
Of the 204 active fires, 56 are out of control.
Extreme heat wave
These fires occur during an extreme heat wave with temperatures close to 40ºC, which makes authorities fear
a disaster like that of 2017
.
That year, a gigantic forest fire killed 11 people, affected some 6,000 people, destroyed more than 1,500 houses and ravaged 467,000 hectares of land.
As in the previous disaster, the fires started in agricultural regions and forests before spreading and threatening inhabited areas.
Traffic on one of the main roads leading to the city of Concepción, located 510 km south of the capital Santiago, has been limited since Thursday due to the proximity of the fire.
One of the epicenters of the tragedy is the city of Santa Juana, 52 km south of Concepción.
President Gabriel Boric suspended his vacation to travel to the city of Concepción, in the region of Biobío, then to that of Ñuble, he said on Twitter.
Chile's prosecutor's office meanwhile announced that two people linked to the fires in the Biobío and La Araucanía regions had been arrested.
More than 2,300 brigadiers are mobilized to fight the fires.
🇨🇱 Recibimos en Ñuble al Presidente @GabrielBoric, quien llegó a la región para monitorear el despliegue de las institutions en el marco del Estado de Catástrofe y donde compromise una rápida gestión para el proceso de recuperación de la zona.
pic.twitter.com/FOnDmWFKhv
— Gobierno Regional de Ñuble (@goredenuble) February 3, 2023
(
With
AFP)
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Chile
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Gabriel Boric