(Santiago de Chile) At least 13 people died Friday in more than 200 forest fires in central Chile, where an intense heat wave is raging, announced the authorities who declared several regions in a state of disaster.
“We deplore 13 dead in total, 11 in the city of Santa Juana (Biobío region), a pilot of Bolivian nationality and a mechanic of Chilean nationality who crashed in a helicopter that was fighting fires,” said Mauricio Tapia , Deputy National Director of the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred).
The crash of the aircraft occurred in the Galvarino sector, in the region of La Araucanía.
Authorities have identified 22 people injured, eight of them in serious condition, adding that more than 200 fires have so far devastated more than 40,000 hectares and completely destroyed 97 homes.
Of the 204 active fires, 56 are out of control.
These fires occur during an extreme heat wave with temperatures approaching 40°C, which has authorities fearing a disaster like that of 2017.
That year, a gigantic forest fire caused 11 deaths, some 6,000 victims, destroyed more than 1,500 houses and ravaged 467,000 hectares of land.
The president on the spot
As in the previous disaster, the fires started in agricultural regions and forests before spreading and threatening inhabited areas.
Traffic on one of the main roads leading to the city of Concepción, located 510 km south of the capital Santiago, has been limited since Thursday due to the proximity of the fire.
One of the epicenters of the tragedy is the city of Santa Juana, 52 km south of Concepción.
According to a resident interviewed by Cooperativa radio, the fire began to threaten the houses around 7 am.
“I only ask God for mercy. That’s all. What happens is in God’s hands,” he said.
The Chilean government has declared a state of disaster in the regions of Ñuble and Biobío (center). Outbreaks also affect the regions of Maule and La Araucanía (center).
President Gabriel Boric suspended his vacation to travel to the city of Concepción, in the region of Biobío, then to that of Ñuble, he said on Twitter.
Chile’s prosecutor’s office meanwhile announced that two people linked to the fires in the Biobío and La Araucanía regions had been arrested.
More than 2,300 brigadiers are mobilized to fight the fires.