News Desk
SANTIAGO: A forest fire in Chile’s Metropolitan region left one person dead and injured five others as it scorched over 659 hectares.
The blaze also destroyed 46 homes, the Interior and Public Security Ministry’s National Emergency Office (Onemi) said on Tuesday. Around 184 people have also been left homeless by the blaze.
The Onemi said that the fire in Melipilla commune – a rural town about 70 kilometers southwest of the capital Santiago – was detected on December 11 and is still burning despite efforts to extinguish it.
35% of fires in Chile are intentionally started
On Monday, Chilean Agriculture Minister Esteban Valenzuela told reporters that only one percent of the fires in the country occurred naturally and that a whopping 35 percent of fires in the country were intentionally started.
Valenzuela called on the national prosecutor’s office to take action on the matter.
– APP
