The multiple forest fires that continue to rage in central Chile, where an intense heat wave is raging, have left twenty-four dead and 1,182 injured, according to a new report published on Sunday February 5 by the authorities.
Fanned by moderate to strong winds and temperatures above 40 ° C, the fires devastated in five days some 270,000 hectares and destroyed 1,081 homes, they said. The government has declared a state of disaster in several areas of the center, reduced to scenes of desolation with plots in ashes, animals lying lifeless and inhabitants who have lost everything.
The president, Gabriel Boric, attended, on Sunday, the funeral wake of a volunteer firefighter in the town of Coronel, in the Biobio region. He also traveled once again to the city of Concepcion, 510 km south of Santiago, and visited the ravaged areas.
A drop in temperatures on Sunday morning offered some respite for the 5,300 firefighters battling the blazes. According to the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred), 283 active fires have been recorded, including 71 out of control.
Ten people arrested
“We are seeing a small improvement in weather conditions on Sunday and Monday. This means that we are not experiencing extremely high temperatures,” Interior Undersecretary Manuel Monsalve said. According to him, ten people were arrested, suspected of having played a role in the outbreak of certain fires.
A red alert remains in place in three of the affected regions as temperatures could again reach close to 40°C on Tuesday.
International aid is beginning to take shape with the departure from Spain on Sunday of a plane and fifty soldiers, specialists and drone pilots. Colombia also announced on Twitter to send aid. The Chilean Foreign Ministry explained that it coordinates with Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, the United States and Mexico.
French President Emmanuel Macron also reacted on Twitter, stating that “the Chilean people can count on the support of France to fight against this scourge”.