(Santiago de Chile) At least four people died Friday and nine others were injured in forest fires in the center of Chile where an intense heat wave is raging, announced the authorities who declared several regions in a state of disaster.
“We mourn four deaths. These are people who were traveling in vehicles,” in the city of Santa Juana, in the Biobio region, Chilean Interior Minister Carolina Toha said.
She said two people died while driving on a main road affected by the flames, while the other two perished in a traffic accident, “probably trying to escape the fire”.
Earlier, the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (SENAPRED) and the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) reported nine people injured, including eight firefighters.
A total of 107 homes were affected to varying degrees by the fires, the two organizations added at a press conference. According to a latest report from CONAF, some 29,000 hectares of land have burned so far. Of the 178 active fires on Friday, 39 are out of control.
PHOTO JUAN GONZALEZ, REUTERS
Residents try to control a fire in Tome.
The Chilean government has declared a state of disaster in the regions of Ñuble and Biobio (Centre). Outbreaks also affect the regions of Maule and La Araucania (Centre).
“I have decided to declare a constitutional state of emergency of disaster for the Ñuble region,” wrote President Gabriel Boric on his Twitter account. A few hours later, Interior Minister Carolina Tohá announced that a state of disaster had also been declared in the Biobio region.
President Boric suspended his vacation to travel to the city of Concepcion, 510 km south of the capital Santiago, he said on Twitter.
These fires occur during an extreme heat wave with temperatures close to 40 ºC, which makes authorities fear a disaster like that of 2017.
At that time, a gigantic forest fire had affected three regions of the country, killing 11 people and destroying more than 1,500 houses and 467,000 hectares of land.