At least 112 dead in fires in Chile

WORLD, Feb. 05 (YPA) -At least 112 people have been confirmed dead in the forest fires that swept through several areas in central Chile, according to a local official.

“We must say, with the information received from the forensic service that there are 112 people killed, 32 bodies identified,” declared Sunday evening Manuel Monsalve, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior, during a press conference, specifying that the firefighters were still fighting against around forty active outbreaks.

He also revealed that there are still 40 active fires.

The mayor of the resort town of Viña del Mar, Macarena Ripamonti, and the governor of the Valparaíso region, Rodrigo Mundaca, said several hundred people were missing.

The fires have engulfed entire residential areas, turning vast expanses of forests covering tens of thousands of hectares into ashes.

Firefighters continue to battle dozens of fires in the central and southern regions of the country for the third consecutive day.

E.M