(Santiago de Chile) A firefighter was arrested Friday in Chile, suspected of being at the origin of the fire which killed 137 people in early February in the city of Viña del Mar, said police director Eduardo Cerna .
“An arrest warrant was issued today against the author of the fires that occurred in February in the Valparaiso region”, where the city of Viña del Mar is located, declared Eduardo Cerna, during a press conference organized at the end of the investigation.
The fire started on February 2 around the town of Viña del Mar, located in the tourist region of Valparaiso, in central Chile.
According to official figures, 137 people died and 16,000 were affected.
“Field work, evidence collection, analysis and cross-checking of information made it possible to locate, establish behavioral patterns and geographic movement data” of the arrested firefighter, Mr. Cerna said.
According to local media, this 22-year-old man joined the fire brigade, which is made up of volunteers in Chile, a year and a half ago.
“We are completely devastated by what happened, this is a completely isolated incident […] we have been taking care of Valparaiso for more than 170 years and we cannot allow such things,” Vicente Maggiolo, commander of the 13th, told the press.e Valparaiso City Fire Company.