Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Thousands evacuated as fire burns 500 homes in Chile

-

An uncontrollable wildfire in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso destroyed 500 homes and forced the evacuation of 3,000 people as the conflagration burned into the night.

Huge tongues of fire engulfing one home after another led President Michelle Bachelet to declare the zone a disaster area late Saturday.

Thousands of people, meanwhile, watched from distant vantage points as the hills burned bright red.

A dense column of smoke advanced towards Valparaiso's port, one of Chile's largest.

The city of 270,000, whose historic quarter was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004, draws thousands of foreign and local visitors each year.

The fire, whose cause is still under investigation, led to the suspension of drinking water and power outages in several neighborhoods.

The fire passed through 12 neighborhoods, destroying 500 homes, Mayor Jorge Castro said, telling state TV channel TVN that 3,000 people had been evacuated.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo said Bachelet had signed a decree authorising the army to help evacuate "the thousands and thousands of people who at this moment are being evacuated from their homes."

Penailillo said one person had been seriously injured by the fire, but that for the moment there were no known deaths.

An uncontrollable wildfire in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso destroyed 500 homes and forced the evacuation of 3,000 people as the conflagration burned into the night.

Huge tongues of fire engulfing one home after another led President Michelle Bachelet to declare the zone a disaster area late Saturday.

Thousands of people, meanwhile, watched from distant vantage points as the hills burned bright red.

A dense column of smoke advanced towards Valparaiso’s port, one of Chile’s largest.

The city of 270,000, whose historic quarter was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004, draws thousands of foreign and local visitors each year.

The fire, whose cause is still under investigation, led to the suspension of drinking water and power outages in several neighborhoods.

The fire passed through 12 neighborhoods, destroying 500 homes, Mayor Jorge Castro said, telling state TV channel TVN that 3,000 people had been evacuated.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo said Bachelet had signed a decree authorising the army to help evacuate “the thousands and thousands of people who at this moment are being evacuated from their homes.”

Penailillo said one person had been seriously injured by the fire, but that for the moment there were no known deaths.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

World

Calling for urgent action is the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

World

Immigration is a symptom of a much deeper worldwide problem.

Business

Saudi Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser speaks during the CERAWeek oil summit in Houston, Texas - Copyright AFP Mark FelixPointing to the still...

Business

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal infers that some workers might be falling out of the job market altogether.