Chile has declared two days of national mourning following forest fires which hit several urban areas in the Valparaiso region, on the central coast. At least 112 people died and 3,000 to 6,000 houses were burned, according to a still very provisional report. The region is still in a state of emergency and this February 5, a curfew is applied in four of the most affected municipalities to allow evacuations, the movement of aid, but also to avoid looting.
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This is the deadliest fire ever recorded in Chile, testifies the RFI correspondent in Santiago, Naïla Derroisné. Hundreds of families have lost everything. Their belongings, their homes, were completely devoured by the flames.
This is the case of Marcela who shows on Chilean television the extent of the damage. Two blackened walls still stand but on the ground there is only a pile of metal sheets, only its oven has not been completely burned: “ It’s like there was an atomic bomb. It’s indescribable, no one really realizes what happenedsays Marcela who remembers the arrival of the fire. There, in the street, there were gigantic flames. Neighbors burned to death trying to escape ».
Very dense residential areas near forests
The high heat, the wind and the low humidity quickly spread the forest fire which very quickly reached homes, as explained by Joan Saavedra, an urban planner in Valparaiso who saw the fire pass 300 meters from her. House : ” The first sectors to be affected were precarious dwellings which were set up illegally on the outskirts of the city, and which are very exposed on these slopes with trees susceptible to fire. This first line was affected, then the flames advanced to more formal neighborhoods “. Nearly 26,000 hectares were reduced to ashes.
The weather conditions of the last few hours, however, seem more favorable, according to Interior Minister Carolina Toha. Lots of clouds, high humidity and therefore lower temperatures will undoubtedly allow better care of victims and control of fires, she stressed. The Las Tablas fire, the largest in the Valparaiso region, is still active over a perimeter of 80 km. And some 1,400 firefighters and 1,300 soldiers and volunteers are still mobilized against dozens of fires in the center and south of the country, according to the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred).
Read alsoViolent forest fires in Chile: state of exception declared
A vulnerability to drought that challenges
The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell announced on X (formerly Twitter) that the European Union was “ ready to help in these difficult times », believing that these “ devastating fires (…) remind us of the ravages of drought and climate “.
#Chile There were new devastating fires with numerous fatalities, records of the consequences of the sequía and the climate. Traslado mi apoyo y solidaridad al gobierno y al pueblo chileno.
The EU is listed to collaborate and help you in these difficult times
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) February 4, 2024
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs also reacted by showing its solidarity.
#Chile 🇨🇱 | France expresses its full solidarity with the Chilean government and people in the face of the fires ravaging the country. She sends her condolences to the relatives of the victims. France stands ready to provide assistance.@steph_sejourne @ambafrancecl
— France Diplomatie🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@francediplo) February 4, 2024
And Pope Francis called on Sunday to pray “ for the dead and injured in the devastating fires in Chile “.
This heatwave resulting from the El Niño climatic phenomenon is currently affecting the southern cone of Latin America, in the middle of the summer period. After Chile and Colombia, the heat wave now threatens Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil.
(With AFP)
Read alsoLatin America’s southern cone plagued by extreme heat and fires