“Until today the figures we have in the Legal Medical Service they reach 122 deathsof which we have 32 identified, we have performed 40 autopsies, and 27 of the deceased “We are doing the procedures to deliver (the bodies) to their relatives,” the woman told the press. director of the SML, Marisol Prado.
Meadow reported that now the SML, in addition to the removal of bodies, “carries out the delivery of the deceased”as well as the “process of taking samples from relatives” who have reported someone missing.
The director of the organization specified that to clarify the identities of the deceased, biometric identifications, fingerprints and blood samples are being made. DNA.
The forest fires, which began in the middle of last week in the center and south of the country, at the same time as an unprecedented extreme heat wave arrived, have so far consumed more than 26,000 hectares in the central regions of the country, Valparaíso, Metropolitana, O’Higginsas well as to the south, in the Maule, La Araucanía and Los Lagosin the middle of a heat wave.
There are 122 deaths and 32 bodies identified
The mayor (mayor) of Viña del Mar, Macarena Ripamontiindicated that they have received 372 reports of missing persons.
Viña del Mar120 kilometers northwest of Santiagois one of the areas most punished by forest fires.
In total there are 165 active fire spotsone of the largest is located in Valparaisoin the so-called Las Tablas Complex, where it has consumed a surface of 8,500 hectares without presenting spread in the last hours.
There are also several active outbreaks in the Metropolitan regionin the center of the country, and in The Araucaníato the south.
In the communes of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar They burned near 8,500 hectares and it is estimated that between 3,000 to 6,000 homes were damaged, while in the communes of Quilpue and Villa Alemana the fire has already devastated 1,500 hectares and more than 100 homes were affected, according to what the newspaper El Mercurio published this morning on its website.
1,300 soldiers and civilian volunteers help fight the flames
Throughout the region, known for its tourist beaches and wine production, 17 fire brigades, 1,300 soldiers and civilian volunteers are deployed to help fight the flames alongside the victims who lost everything.
During this morning the Chilean rear admiral Daniel Muñoz, head of National Defensestated – in conversation with radio ADN – that there would be “indications” about “planning” regarding the origin of the forest fires and that in the last few hours they have received complaints of possible fire attempts in some places where they were seen as “unknown.”
Muñoz added that with the information they have there is “a pattern of behavior that indicates that there is planning, something orchestrated and organized” about the origin of the fires.
For his part, the President of Chile, Gabriel Boricvisited the affected area and declared two days of national mourning for the fire victims.
The president described the crisis as “the biggest tragedy since the 2010 earthquake” that left more than 500 dead and announced that the presidential palace of Cerro Castillo, in Viña del Mar, It will open for activities to be carried out for children and adolescents who are victims of this tragedy, with teachers and guards.
The heartbreaking testimonies of victims who lost home and family, as well as the images of flames covering populated hills in Viña del MarValparaíso region, led to Pope Francisco to refer to this Chilean catastrophe.
Leaning out the window of the apostolic palace, the pontiff asked to pray “for the dead and injured in the devastating fires in Chili”, after the Sunday Angelus in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square.
The tall representative of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, offered support to Chili following this new episode of “devastating fires with numerous fatalities, reminding us of the ravages of drought and climate,” he indicated in a message.
Through their social networks, Gabriel Boricreported that he contacted his partner Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has arranged “different modalities of support” that are being coordinated through the chancelleries.
To date, more than 560 tons of aid to the affected regionwhich have been delivered to the affected people and volunteers on the ground.
Source: Ambito
