Forest fires in Chile worsen: 22 dead, 10 missing and over 45,000 hectares destroyed

Forest fires afflicting central and northern Chile They have already razed more than 45,000 hectares and it caused the death of 22 people, while another 10 are missing.

This was announced this Saturday by the Chilean Interior Minister, Carolina Toha, in the context of a press conference held after noon, in which she updated the information on the catastrophe that has led President Gabriel Boric to suspend the holidays scheduled for these days.

“We share the pain and the commitment not only of the Government but of the entire country to act so that this number does not increase. There are 22 dead from the fires, 10 missing,” the official explained.

In this sense, he emphasized that the sources of fire are active They have gone from 151 to 170 in the last few hours and that 45,000 hectares are already affected by the flames. Until Friday they were 20 thousand.

He also added: “Regardless of the resources available, the situation we are facing has been very serious. Right now there are a thousand firefighters who have traveled from other places to strengthen the facilities that are in the area “.

And he continued on the means: “There are 1,834 members of the Armed Forces who are deployed in the area. Between yesterday and today we went from 1,475 to 1,834. In addition, 74 land vehicles deployed, six aircraft that went to reinforce the equipment and four maritime units that carried out evacuations by sea”.

Finally, he highlighted a negative and a positive for the next few hours, which will be essential to control fires in the most affected areas.

“Have some conditions today and tomorrow raising new concerns and some forecasts improving. A major concern is that we have a pretty serious air quality problem. This results in recommendations for people with additional vulnerability. Smoking generates a drop in temperature which prevents the passage of the sun’s rays,” she explained.

New in development