Colombia, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay and the European Union (EU) were willing to help the Chilean authorities to control the serious forest fires that have plagued the south and center of the country for a week.
Colombian President, Gustavo Petrothrough his Twitter account, assured that they will send a plane with material and a group of experts to put out the fires that, until the closing of this note, left 24 dead, 997 injured, 800 homes destroyed and 270,000 hectares destroyed by fireaccording to figures from the AFP agency
These events have occurred mainly in the Ñuble, Biobío and La Araucanía regions, areas of intense agricultural and forestry activity located 400, 500 and 700 kilometers south of Santiago, respectively. In these areas, temperatures have been above 40 degrees Celsius, which has led to fires in this region.
For their part, the governments of Argentina and Spain They have already announced the sending of brigade members and machinery to collaborate in the extinction and control of the fire, to which the aforementioned Colombian plane will be added. The Chilean Foreign Ministry also said that it is coordinating aid from Mexico, Brazil and Uruguay.
Meanwhile, the EU announced that it is also prepared to offer the necessary support.
The photographs and stories about the crisis in Chile give an account of the tragedy that the country is experiencing today. In the agricultural area surrounded by timber forests devastated by fire, scenes of plots reduced to ashes, dead animals and country people who suddenly lost everything are repeated.
“It was hell. I can’t understand how our houses (…) have burned down. It has been a miracle that some of them escaped from their homes (from the flames), but the fire surrounded them,” María Inés, 55, a social leader from the Diñico sector, in the municipality of Santa Juana, told AFP. in the Biobío region.
“And now we are afraid that the fire will return (…). Imagine, without water, where are we going to take refuge? Where? How? ”, She asked herself anguished.
Miguel Ángel Henríquez, 58, a farmer from Santa Juana, in the same region, told AFP that he waited with his wife until the last minute to flee the flames and that’s when they met firefighters and police officers.
“A neighbor appeared and went into the fire, to look for his animals, but he did not appear anymore, Don Antón. I yelled at him to get out of the fire, but he did not want to obey me, ”he assured.
President Gabriel Boric attended the wake of a firefighter in the town of Coronel.
“The whole of Chile cries with you. I am here to tell you that you are not alone, that Yesenia’s family (Muñoz, the deceased firefighter) will not be alone,” said the president.
Yesterday morning, a drop in temperatures seemed to give a breather to the 5,300 brigade members and firefighters fighting the fires. However, local media anticipated that tomorrow the temperature could rise again in the area. Authorities also reported that at least 240 fires are still active.
The Government of Chile also reported yesterday that there are a total of 10 detainees for their alleged involvement in the devastating fires. “The intentional generation of fires will be criminally prosecuted by the Government. The law is especially harsh (…). The sentences range from 5 to 20 years,” said the Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, at a press conference.
At the beginning of 2017, a chain of fires that devastated some 460,000 hectares left 11 dead, nearly 6,000 injured and more than 1,500 houses burned.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
TIME
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