ANPPeople watch trees burn
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 16:51
Chilean President Gabriel Boric has declared a state of emergency and a curfew in the Valparaiso region, about 85 kilometers west of the capital Santiago. There are intense forest fires raging in the mountains.
Chilean authorities report at least nineteen deaths. Thousands of hectares of forest have been destroyed and neighborhoods in several coastal towns have been reduced to ashes.
Nineteen helicopters and 450 firefighters have been deployed to fight the fire so far. Three shelters have also been set up in the area for residents.
Curfew
Yesterday, Boric declared a state of emergency in the coastal region in central Chile. With this he wants to give more space to the emergency services. “All troops are deployed in the fight against forest fires,” he writes. According to Boric, the relief work is complicated by the extreme heat and wind.
Now a local curfew has been added. This means that residents are no longer allowed to leave their homes between 8 a.m. and 12 noon. Chilean authorities want roads to remain as clear as possible for crucial emergency services and evacuations.
There have already been several calls for residents of various neighborhoods in the area to evacuate, but many do not want to leave their homes for fear of looting. The government sends the army to maintain peace in the area.
Instigated
Yesterday afternoon, fires suddenly broke out in several places in a nature park southeast of Valparaiso. The Chilean Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, suspects that these fires were started.
These are images of the fires:
Major forest fires are ravaging Chile
South America is experiencing exceptional heat waves for this time of year. In the south of Chile and Argentina, in the Patagonia region, temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius around the end of January.
The heat has also spread to more northern regions. Colombia also experiences higher than average temperatures. Paraguay and Brazil are also expected to experience these warm temperatures in the coming days.
2024-02-03 15:51:24
#Death #toll #Chilean #forest #fires #rises #state #emergency #curfew #effect
