The new balance of situation offered by the Chilean government raises to 24 the fatalities due to the wave of forest fires that the country is suffering. The authorities have also reported the arrest of up to 10 people for their alleged responsibility in the fires that lurk in central and southern Chile.
The Vice Minister of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, has confirmed this Sunday the death of a person hospitalized in Angol, in the Araucanía region, while another 26 victims remain hospitalized and with serious burns in different centers.
The Government also has evidence of more than 1,100 people attended, as well as some 800 houses destroyed, which shows the virulence of some fires that mainly affect areas of central and southern Chile.
The National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) calculates around 260 fires registered throughout the country, of which fifty are still active and, of these, 28 are considered especially dangerous.
Likewise, according to the vice minister, “there are 10 detainees for eventual responsibility in the generation of fires” in recent days. “I want to reiterate, and I want to be very categorical about this, the intentional generation of fires will be criminally prosecuted by the Government,” Monsalve warned in his appearance, according to the newspaper ‘El Mercurio’. The penalties associated with this type of crime range from five to 20 years in prison.
The Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, has traveled to the south to participate in the funeral of a volunteer firefighter who lost his life fighting the fires and has proclaimed to the family that “they are not alone”. In addition, he has reiterated his gratitude to the fire services for “the tremendous sacrifice they are making.”
Spain responds to Chile’s request and sends an EMU contingent
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, reported this Sunday that Spain has sent a plane with a contingent from the UME to Chile to collaborate in the extinction and control of the fires that are plaguing the South American country, all after this has asked various governments for help, including the Spanish one.
Sánchez stressed that Spain “is well aware of the drama of the forest fires” and has sent its support to the Chilean people, who have so far lamented the death of 23 people due to the fire that is devastating the center-south of the country.
The National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) of Chile has indicated in the early hours of this Sunday that there are already 1,111 people sheltered, 865 the victims and 979 the injured, although it has not specified their seriousness.
In addition, it has specified that 563 homes are currently in a state of evaluation for the damage caused, while a total of 20 educational centers have been damaged.
The EU offers its help
The European Commission has offered EU help to combat the wave of forest fires that is ravaging areas of central and southern Chile and that has left more than twenty fatalities until this Sunday.
“We are closely monitoring the devastating and numerous fires,” the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, wrote on Twitter. “We are ready to help the authorities in Chile so that the most affected areas receive the necessary support,” he added.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has reported this Sunday that Spain has sent a plane to Chile with a contingent of the UME to collaborate in the extinction and control of the fires, something that the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, has already thanked publicly.