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Chile: violent fires kill at least 46 people
Chile: violent fires left at least 46 dead – (France info)
At least 46 people were killed in fires in Chile on Saturday February 3. The tourist region of Valparaiso is experiencing scorching temperatures, the president has declared a state of emergency.
Not a house seems to have been spared by the flames: for hundreds of meters, the hills of Viña del Mar were transformed into piles of still smoking ashes. Ravaged by fires, nothing remains of part of the seaside resort. The toll, which will rise, is fatal: around a hundred homes burned and 19 people died in a single sector of the city. In total, at least 46 people died.
90 fires still active
It is in the tourist region of Valparaiso that the fires are the most violent. Faced with these events, the government declared a state of emergency to mobilize as many firefighters as possible. Faced with the flames, they seem powerless. For the inhabitants, forced to abandon everything to survive, the observation is painful: “My house is over there, I watch it burn”, deplores a disconcerted resident. Saturday February 3, the authorities reported 90 fires still active.
