Victims of southern Chile fires rise to 20, suspect arrested for causing them

Santiago de Chile.- The Minister of the Interior Chilean, Álvaro Elizalde, confirmed on Monday night that the number of victims of the forest fires that have been burning since Saturday in the southern regions of Ñuble and Biobío has risen to 20. The emergency, which left thousands evacuated, 75 injured and more than 500 people sheltered, has consumed 20,000 hectares in BíoBío, the most affected region, especially the commune of Penco, about 500 kilometers south of the capital.

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A man was arrested this Monday night in this town for allegedly trying to start a fire in this sector: “He was seized a lighter with which, allegedly, he was starting a fire and, also, a nylon bag that had copper wire inside”, said Major Bruno Gallardo. The arrested man, 50 years old and with a history of theft and violation of the Drug Law, was held by neighbors after they allegedly found him setting fire to vegetation with a lighter near a fire station.

Since the start of the fires, the Government has reiterated on several occasions that the State will “pursue” those responsible for the fires and that the events “will not go unpunished”.

On Monday, President Gabriel Boric and President-elect José Antonio Kast appeared in an unprecedented show of unity from La Moneda, in which they called for civic responsibility.

Boric thanked Kast’s “disposition”, his great political rival and who is at ideological antipodes, and indicated that the far-rightist will have to lead “part of the important reconstruction process”. The affected regions remain under red alert, under a State of Catastrophe and with a night curfew. The weather conditions have been adverse for fighting the fires, with extreme temperatures and a dry, warm wind blowing from the Andes mountain range towards the valley, which has complicated the extinction efforts.