Agencies Santiago de Chile

Santiago de Chile

Updated Sunday, February 4, 2024-00:16

The deaths in the multiple fires recorded since Friday in the region of

Valparaíso

, 100 kilometers east of Santiago, amounted to 46, reported this Saturday the Chilean president,

Gabriel Boric,

who warned that the number of fatalities "will increase in the next few hours."

"I have confirmation that so far 40 people have died during the fires and 6 additional people have died in hospitals as a result of burns (...) Given the conditions of the tragedy, the number of victims will surely increase in the coming hours "Boric said on a national network in the La Moneda presidential palace.

This is the deadliest wave of fires in recent times and almost doubles the toll of last year's fires, which already broke the death toll record with 27 deaths.

The fire advances without control in the Chilean region of Valparaíso

"I want to reiterate the call that,

when told to evacuate, do not hesitate.

The fire is advancing very quickly and the weather conditions we have had have made fighting the fires much more complicated: high temperatures; strong winds, average of 30 kilometers per hour with gusts of up to 60, and also low humidity," said the president.

Currently, there are

at least four large active fires in the Valparaíso region:

two in the coastal city of Viña del Mar (in the Las Tablas and Qurauma sectors) and another two in the towns of Quilpué (Villa Alemana) and Quillota.

The devastating fires that started on Friday in the densely populated hills surrounding the city of Viña del Mar

are advancing without respite

and have already reached industrial sectors, where various explosions have been recorded in chemical warehouses, paint factories and other warehouses.

The explosions have generated

a toxic black cloud

in the so-called "garden city", one of the most tourist spots in Chile, which attracts thousands of vacationers every summer.

To facilitate rescue and firefighting efforts and clear evacuation routes, the Chilean Government ordered a

12-hour curfew,

starting at 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.

"Our priority is to save lives and to do so we need to have the entire public and private health network," said Boric, who acknowledged that there are suspicions that the fire was intentional.

"Know that

it will be investigated to the last consequences

and with all the necessary resources," he added.

Although Chile has experienced

one of the rainiest 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 central-southern area. easy combustion.