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Firefighters in Valparaíso, Chile
Photo:
Javier Torres/AFP
The death toll from the severe forest fires in Chile has risen to at least 51. According to Chilean media reports, Interior Minister Carolina Tohá was confirmed on Saturday evening (local time).
45 died directly in the fires, and six others later died in hospital from their serious injuries. A number of people were still missing. Given the circumstances, it is expected that the number of deaths will rise, President Gabriel Boric said earlier in the evening.
Dozens of fires are currently raging in central and southern Chile amid severe drought and temperatures of up to 40 degrees. The flames also spread to several houses, including in the coastal town of Viña del Mar.
Viña del Mar is about an hour and a half drive from the capital Santiago de Chile. In the summer months it is a popular vacation spot. Mayor Macarena Ripamonti spoke of an “unprecedented catastrophe”. A crisis “of this magnitude has never occurred in the Valparaíso region,” she said.
State of emergency declared
The forestry department registered 143 fires across the country on Saturday, covering an area of around 21,000 hectares. Tohá said that thousands of houses were also affected by the fires. In the Valparaíso region alone there are more than 3,000.
»Our priority is to save lives«
President Gabriel Boric
On Friday, President Boric had already declared a state of emergency in the affected areas due to the disaster in order to be able to mobilize all the necessary resources. He has now also instructed the Ministry of Defense to deploy more military units. "Our priority is to save lives," said Boric on Saturday.
In summer in the southern hemisphere, serious forest fires occur again and again in Chile. However, there is suspicion that at least some of the fires were started intentionally.
mas/dpa