“The biggest tragedy since 27F”: President Gabriel Boric

According to the figure updated by the Legal Medical Service, there are 99 fatalities caused by the fires in the Valparaíso Region. A number that will continue to rise as they clear the area of ​​debris. More than two hundred people are estimated to be missing. More than 17 thousand hectares were consumed by the fire. The Superintendent of the Valparaíso Fire Department, Juan Paredes, stated that “because of the experience in Salto del Agua, yes. “This is totally intentional, that is a reality that we must face.”

“The century”. Valparaiso. 4/2/2024. “This is the greatest tragedy that we have experienced as a country since the earthquake of February 27, 2010,” said this morning the President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric, after visiting the affected area in the commune of Quilpué.

The president decreed two days of national mourning and also ordered to accelerate the investigation of the origin of the fires, reinforce the Legal Medical Service, enable the Presidential Palace of Cerro Castillo with activities to accompany girls, boys and adolescents who have suffered losses after the fires , and the deployment of the teams in charge of removing debris, once the lights that are still active have been turned off.

“From the Valparaíso region, I send a hug of solidarity and my deepest condolences to each of the victims who have lost a loved one and also to those who have 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, which is always present in these difficult moments, will be with you,” Boric noted.

In addition, the head of state explained that “we have channeled support to the victims who are in the shelters and we have deployed the teams of the Ministry of Social Development, who are already in direct contact with the community managers of the emergency to begin apply the FIBE as soon as possible. The National Youth Institute (Injuv) is coordinating with the Municipality of Viña del Mar and other municipalities, with volunteers, to provide support in shelters and collection centers.”

And he added that “I have entrusted the Minister of Education, Nicolás Cataldo, to review one by one the fifteen shelters that are available in the region to make sure they have all the basic goods and coordinate support where it is lacking.”

SML report

According to the latest report delivered by the Legal Medical Service (SML) at 6 p.m., there would be 99 fatalities that the brutal fire in Quilpué would have left so far, however, only 32 of them have been identified. It was also reported that the institution has performed 25 autopsies. The number of deaths is expected to continue increasing.

“The SML regrets the tragedy that the Valparaíso region is experiencing and reports that at this time all its technical, medical and administrative teams are present, with the support of professionals from Santiago, ready to face this emergency,” indicated the SML.

And he added that “the Undersecretary of Justice, the Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the Investigative Police, the Carabineros of Chile and the national and regional directorates of the SML are in permanent coordination to optimize the collection, identification and delivery of the deceased.”

Resource provision

This Sunday, a new coordination meeting was also held led by the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, together with the Director of Senapred, Álvaro Hormazábal and the Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel.

After the meeting, it was reported that all human, technical and material efforts are ready by State agencies on the ground fighting the forest fires that mainly affect communes in the regions of Valparaíso, O’Higgins and Maule.

In relation to the resources deployed to combat accidents in the Valparaíso Region, 23 helicopters, 9 airplanes, 17 brigades are working, to which around 1,311 personnel from the different branches of the Armed Forces will be added during the afternoon. There are also municipal and private tank trucks supporting the distribution of water to the population and forestry brigades.

“Right now the priority is to protect lives and contain the fire in the most risky areas,” said Minister Tohá.

It was also confirmed that the curfew will continue in the communes of Limache, Quilpué, Villa Alemana and Viña del Mar, in the Valparaíso Region, due to the forest fire catastrophe and will begin to take effect from 6:00 p.m. this Sunday. until 10:00 a.m. on Monday.

The Minister of Finance reported that, compared to other emergencies, the economic impact of this one is greater, so economic mechanisms will be established to support the population.

“The 2024 Budget Law introduced a series of modifications that included the experience of the previous year in the disasters that we had to manage to respond to emergencies. This year we have much more expeditious mechanisms to mobilize resources,” he said.

And he added that “we have sufficient capacity to generate the resources that are required, both to address the emergency and for subsequent aid and reconstruction. “That resources are not a restriction either quantitatively or operationally to do everything that is necessary.”

Likewise, he highlighted the delivery of 80 million dollars ($75 billion) to Conaf last year for the hiring of more brigade members and aircraft, and the 13% increase in the entity’s budget for this year.

In addition, the minister announced that both the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), approved donations for Chile for a total of 450 thousand dollars between them, to address the emergency.

“The fires are intentional”

The superintendent of the Valparaíso Fire Department, Juan Paredes, stated that “because of the experience in Salto del Agua, yes. “This is totally intentional, this is a reality that we must face, and especially because sectors have burned that did not have to burn.”

And he added that “while they were making progress on the emergency in Salto del Agua, they (firefighters) saw when (another focus) was being made with accelerant liquids in the Laguna de la Luz sector in the southern part. That’s real, that was affirmative. Even though we work well, we are seeing that it continues to burn behind our backs.”

The PDI (Investigative Police) is carrying out investigations to determine the intention of the accidents, while videos and photographs circulate on social networks showing small bonfires located a few meters from each other, lit by people.

Photo: Presidency Press.