VIÑA DEL MAR, Chile: The death toll from Chile’s forest fire has jumped to at least 99 people on Sunday, after President Gabriel Boric warned the number likely to rise.
Authorities continued to fight fires in the coastal tourist area of Valparaiso amid an intense summer heat wave, with temperatures touching to 40 degrees Celsius over the weekend.
The organization responsible for managing victims’ bodies on Sunday afternoon said it had received 99 people, 32 of them identified.
Speaking to media, President Boric had given count of 64 people, but said the number was certainly rise.
He said it was the Chili’s deadliest disaster since a 2010 earthquake and tsunami that claimed 500 lives.
Boric has announced a state of emergency, vowing government support to help people get back on their feet.
¡ATENCIÓN! #SENAPRED por incendio forestal, solicita evacuar sector urbano de la comuna de Galvarino, Región de La Araucanía, #SENAPRED activó mensajería SAE.
Se solicita a la población dirigirse a la zona del estadio de Galvarino.
RECUERDA actuar con calma y acatar las… pic.twitter.com/jIxuS2TYAr
— SENAPRED (@Senapred) February 4, 2024
According to the national disaster service, SENAPRED, about 26,000 hectares had been burned across the central and southern regions of the Chile by Sunday.
About 31 firefighting helicopters and airplanes, 1,400 firefighters, 1,300 military personnel and volunteers are fighting the fire.
SENAPRED chief Alvaro Hormazabal added firefighters are fighting 34 blazes, with 43 others under control. He said weather conditions could complicate the situation.
The fires have forced authorities to close the road linking the Valparaiso region to the capital Santiago.
Interior Minister Carolina Toha, has said the fire without a doubt is the deadliest fire event in Chile’s history.
The increasing temperatures threaten to engulf more of the area, as brigades in Argentina have been fighting a fire that has consumed more than 3,000 hectares in Los Alerces National Park.
