The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, decreed this Sunday in an emotional speech two days of national mourning for the fatalities of the forest fires that are ravaging the center-southern of the country and whose number now amounts to at least 112 people.
“It is the entire Chile that suffers and mourns its dead,” said the president from Quilpué, a commune in the Valparaíso region in central Chile.
After visiting several areas and meeting with affected families in the commune, Boric sent “a hug of solidarity” and his “deepest condolences” to each of the victims who have lost a loved one, as well as to all those who lost “ their homes, their memories and their belongings.”
“Know that you will not be alone, that the government, the State and the solidarity of Chileans that is always present in these difficult times, are with you. Once again we are going to stand up,” he added from a shelter.
Furthermore, he stated that the fires represent “the greatest tragedy we have experienced as a country” since the earthquake of February 27, 2010.
“I say this so that we are able to measure the pain and magnitude of what we are experiencing today here in the fifth region,” the president continued.
During his speech, he reiterated that the priority is saving lives.
Curfew extension
During the weekend, the president was supervising the impact of the forest fires affecting Quilpué and Viña del Mar, which, as he explained, have been hit hard.
“They affected sectors of El Salto, Miraflores, Villa Dulce, Achupallas, El Olivar, Chorrillos and also the Botanical Garden, among other locations,” he explained.
“To give everyone an idea, in Quilpué alone the registry we have today is more than 1,300 destroyed homes and that still needs to be updated with the latest numbers from yesterday. In Viña del Mar, it is much more”he added.
In order to continue the fire extinguishing tasks with greater agility, Boric announced that the curfew in Viña del Mar and Valparaíso will be extended for “as long as necessary”, as well as the military presence to guarantee order and security.
The head of state also ordered to speed up the investigation into the origin of the fires after several authorities left the investigation open. possibility that some fires were intentionally set.
“We don’t know if they are organized groups or arsonists, that will have to be determined by justice,” the governor of Valparaíso, Rodrigo Mundaca, had previously said.
The phenomenon of fires is not new in Chile.
Driven by a record heat wave, last year the flames left 27 dead and affected more than 400,000 hectares.
“The area with fires today is much smaller than last year,” said the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, but warned that the greatest concern this time is that some of the active fires are developing very close. of urban areas “with the very high potential to affect people, homes and facilities.”
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