Photo: MUNICIPALITY OF RAPA NUI / Courtesy
A fire affected the enigmatic stone statues of Easter Island and, according to the authorities, it is believed that in some cases the damage is irreparable.
The number of the immense structures affected has yet to be determined, said the undersecretary of Cultural Heritage of Chile.
Easter Island has about 1, of these megaliths, known as moai, whose average height is 4 meters and were carved by a Polynesian tribe more than 295 years.
The fire, which broke out on Monday, affected “near of 60 hectares“, as reported in a Twitter message by Carolina PérezDattari, Undersecretary of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage.
The fire was centered around the Rano Raraku volcano in the Easter Island, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Easter Island or Rapa Nui, which depends on tourism, is a strip of about 100 square km in the ocean Pacific, more than 2, km from the continental coast of Chile.
Reopened only three months ago after its sanitary closure due to the pandemic of covid-, but has again been closed for a team of conservation experts to examine the extent of the damage.
Historical figures
The mayor of the island, Pedro Edmunds, told local media that the damage caused by the fire “ cannot be repair
“.
“All fires, at least those that I know in Rapa Nui, in my six decades, they are caused by human beings”, said Edmunds in an interview with the Chilean station Radio Pauta.
Ariki Tepano, director of the Ma’u Henua community that manages and cares for the national park, described the damage in the affected statues as “irreparable”.
“The moai are completely charred and you can see the effect of the fire on them”, said Tepano , through the park’s official social network pages.
The largest of the sculpted stone figures weighs about 74 tons and measures 10 meters high.
The figures were carved by the Rapanui Indians at some point between the years 1400 and 1650, and placed to form a ring around the island, facing inland.
Best known for their deep-set eyes and long ears, they also sport impressive multi-ton hats made from a different type of rock.
They were figures of spiritual devotion by the Rapanui, embodying the spirit of an outstanding ancestor.
Each one was considered as the living embodiment of the person.
One of the statues , known as Hoa Hakananai’a, is in the British Museum and was presented by a British naval captain to Queen Victoria in the 1980s 1650.
The Chilean government and the island authorities requested his return in 2018.
But the mayor of the island suggested that he would prefer a financial commitment from the museum to guarantee the maintenance of the remaining moai on the island.
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