:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/5MXACG7PSJHGJGHPX2L46VPBIU.jpg "Fire in Chile | Valparaíso | At least 64 people have died in the country's worst wildfires in a decade the world")
President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, 64 deaths were reported in the wildfires that hit the Valparaiso region in the center of the country this Sunday, and the toll promises to rise significantly. “I can confirm with sadness that there are 64 deaths. We know that number is going to grow, it is going to grow significantly,” the president said from Quilpu, a populated mountain region on the outskirts of Viña del Mar.
In Quilpué, 90 km northwest of Santiago, an AFP team searched areas of burned houses and cars, as thousands of residents were stuck in traffic jams for hours under heavy jungle rain on Friday.
See: Chilean government: “Valparaiso fires worst tragedy since 2010 earthquake”
“This is the biggest tragedy we've had since the 2010 earthquake,” Boric said.An 8.8 magnitude earthquake, followed by a tsunami, occurred on February 27, 2010 and killed more than 500 people.
Rosana Avendano, a 63-year-old kitchen assistant, was out of the house when the fire broke out. Olive groveOne of the fields Vina del MarWhere she lives with her husband and her pet.
“It was terrible because I couldn't go (to my house). The fire came here (…) and we lost everything. “My husband was lying down and started to feel the heat of the fire coming and he ran away,” the woman told AFP.
Avendaño did not contact him until this Saturday, but for hours he feared the worst. Eventually, his pet was also saved from the fire.
In addition to human losses, Between 3,000 and 6,000 homes have been damaged in the last decade's deadliest wildfires.According to the Deputy Secretary.
From La Moneda Palace in Santiago, the President Gabriel Boric He expected victims to “increase” in the “dimensions” the “tragedy” takes.It burned 43,000 hectares.
Only in the field Villa freedomIn Viña del Mar, “19 people died (…), all the bodies were thrown away,” the interior minister said earlier. Carolina Doha.
In the afternoon the fire flared up again Valparaiso. Thick smoke was again seen in this area High temperatures in the middle of the southern summer.
Officers ordered Night curfew in Viña del Mar and three locations at 9:00 PM local (00:00 GMT) and New evacuation warnings have been issuedHowever, the number of people forced to leave their homes was not reported.
A total of 92 fires were reported40 of them have already been contained and 29 eruptions are still active, which firefighters are trying to extinguish with the support of helicopters and planes.
Fire between the mountains and the sea
The most affected areas are near the Pacific coast, between 80 and 120 km northwest of Santiago. Winery, agriculture and logging companies are active.
It also receives a large number of tourists during this season.
Strong winds are driving flames toward transport, painting and furniture factories. According to the AFP team, black smoke blanketed the sky in several streets amid back-to-back explosions, much to the helplessness of firefighters.
As a result of the emergency, the President Boric declared a state of emergency due to the disaster on Friday. “All necessary resources” are needed to extinguish the fire.
In December 2022, in the same area Valparaiso Two people died in a severe forest fire. Fires – usually set deliberately – spread quickly due to construction in unauthorized areas.
Borick said authorities are investigating the current blaze as “possible intentional.”
Last year there was a fire in the southern part Chile27 people died and 450,000 hectares were destroyed.
“Without Precursors”
The mayor of Viña del Mar, Macarena Ribamonti, was surprised by the extent of the fire.
“We are facing an unprecedented disaster, a situation of this magnitude has never happened in the region. Valparaiso”, he noted.
Roads to these Pacific beaches were closed after noon on Friday, and many of the fires spread so quickly that they burned residential areas where alternative transportation routes collapsed. Thousands of people are trying to get out.
According to the report of the National Forestry Corporation (KONAF), there is a massive fire Penulas Lake ReserveAlong the region's main highway, more than 8,000 hectares have burned.
A heat wave with maximum temperatures is inundating the South American cone these days as the natural climate phenomenon of El Nino becomes more intense. According to experts, due to global warming caused by human activities.
Continued suffocating heat warnings are in effect for parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil, as well as Chile this week and into next week.
