Between anguish and discouragement, Chile counts the deaths from the fires: “It’s as if it were an atomic bomb”

Between anguish and discouragement, Chile is now preparing to count the deaths due to the fires that broke out on Friday. As the fire dissipates in the Chilean region of Valparaíso and the smoke decreases, the dimensions of the tragedy They start to get clearer.

The authorities confirmed this on Sunday 112 people died and it is estimated that around 15,000 houses were damaged in the four affected municipalities, which would be equivalent to around 40,000 affected.

These data will still have to be confirmed by reality in the coming days, but in any case it seems clear that the the scale of the destruction is enormous. President Gabriel Boric said on Sunday that it was the worst tragedy the country has experienced in terms of number of victims since the February 27, 2010 earthquake.

The president decreed two days of mourning official from Monday.

“Like an atomic bomb”

“It’s as if it were an atomic bomb,” says Marcela as she shows the extent of the damage on Chilean television. She walks between two blackened walls that are still standing. There’s nothing on the ground but a pile of sheet metal, and only her oven isn’t completely burned.

“There were gigantic flames in the street. “The neighbors burned to death while trying to escape.”Add.

Two arrested

The ferocious forest fires in Valparaíso and Marga, Chile, have already caused the deaths of 112 people, according to the latest report from local authorities, who also report lto the arrest of two people suspected of setting fires.

The head of National Defense of the provinces of Valparaíso and Marga Marga, Rear Admiral Daniel Muñoz, confirmed that two suspects of setting fires near the Botanical Garden of Viña del Mar have been arrested, the BioBio portal reported.

Muñoz underlined that patrols with police and military personnel are intensifying in the disaster area and that, thanks to this, two suspects identified by helicopter flight dand the Air Force.

A curfew is in force in the region, brought forward to 6pm.

Additionally, in the early hours of Monday, residents of the affected areas chased people they believed had started fires.

Gabriel Boric assured that the country is faced with a “large-scale” tragedy and that the number of victims is very high will continue to grow “significantly.”

The highest authorities of the Valparaíso region have asked that the investigation work on the deceased be accelerated, given that the high number of people reported to the police as missing.

“In Viña del Mar there are still about 190 people missing,” the city’s mayor, Macarena Ripamonti, said at a news conference.

The fire is concentrated in the coastal region of Valparaíso, home to nearly one million people, home to Congress and one of the country’s main ports.

Hundreds of firefighters, soldiers and brigade members are fighting to put out several outbreaks in the center and south of the country.

“We are faced with a tragedy of the greatest magnitude,” Boric said in a message to the nation, adding that he had taken the decision to maintain the curfew and strengthen the presence of the military in the most affected areas.

In addition to Valparaísothe fire was active in the central regions O’Higgins, Maule and Ñuble and the southern part of La Araucanía.

High temperatures, wind and low humidity quickly spread the forest fire, which quickly reached the houses, explains Joan Saavedra, an urban planner from Valparaíso, who saw the fire 300 meters from her house.

“The first neighborhoods affected were informal settlements built illegally on the outskirts of the city, very exposed on these slopes with trees sensitive to fire. This first line was hit, then the flames spread to the more formal neighborhoods,” he explains.

With several outbreaks extinguished near the most populated hills, they are starting to be seen in Viña del Mar residential hills reduced to ash and long lines of charred cars on the roads.

It is not known whether they are parked vehicles or people attempting to evacuate and got caught in traffic, trying to escape under a shower of forest embers.

The fire also forced work on the Aconcagua refinery, the second largest in the country, located about 15 kilometers north of the coastal city of Viña del Mar, heavily affected by the fires, to stop.