The figure of deaths from forest fires in Chile rose to 112 on Sunday night, authorities reported, while the president Gabriel Boric He assured that the country faces a tragedy of “very great magnitude” and that The number of victims will continue to grow “significantly.”
Most of the fire involved the coastal Valparaíso region, home to almost a million inhabitants, seat of Congress and one of the country’s main ports. On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of firefighters, soldiers and brigade members battled to put out several outbreaks in the center and south of the country.
“We are facing a tragedy of very large magnitudes,” Boric said in a message to the nation, where he added that he made the decision to maintain the curfew and reinforce the presence of the military in the most affected areas.
The Legal Medical Service said the death toll increased from 99 to 112 on Sunday night.
In addition to Valparaíso, the fire was active in the central regions of O’Higgins, Maule and Ñuble and the southern La Araucanía.
“We know that this figure is going to grow, it is going to grow significantly,” added Boric.
The worst tragedy since the 2010 earthquake
Authorities have said that the tragedy is the worst since a powerful earthquake in 2010 that left half a thousand dead, nearly 500,000 homes affected, two million homeless and devastated coastal cities.
Boric reported that he declared national mourning for two days starting Monday “because all of Chile suffers and mourns our dead.”
The fire also forced the shutdown of the Aconcagua refinery, the second largest in the country, located about 15 kilometers north of the coastal city Viña del Mar, heavily affected by the fires.
Last year, fueled by a record heat wave, the fires left around thirty people dead and affected more than 400,000 hectares throughout Chile.
Source: Ambito
