By EFE
05 Feb 2024, 1:30 PM EST
The two arrested on Sunday in the Chilean city of Viña del Mar for their alleged responsibility in starting the chain of forest fires that have devastated the surroundings of this town and neighboring Valparaíso were released without charge, police sources reported this Monday. .
The arrest had been revealed this Monday by the head of National Defense in the provinces of Valparaíso and Marga-Marga, Rear Admiral Daniel Muñoz, who explained that the suspects were captured after the curfew decreed on Sunday after being sighted from a helicopter in the surroundings of the Botanical Garden, which was completely destroyed.
The Chilean authorities have once again called for collaboration, but also for prudence and to report before taking justice into their own hands, such as the attempted lynching of a man on Saturday whom neighbors mistakenly believed was carrying fire accelerant.
The President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric, stressed on Sunday that this is the greatest tragedy that Chile has suffered since the deadly earthquake in 2010.
The number of deaths in the devastating fires that hit the Valparaíso region, 100 kilometers west of Santiago, increased to 122, the Legal Medical Service (SML) reported today.
Rear Admiral Muñoz assured this Monday that the first indications suggest that the fires had been planned.
A total of 10 regions in Chile have active fires
A total of 165 forest fires remain active in 10 regions of Chile, including coastal Valparaíso, where the chain of fire that started on Friday reached the suburbs of the city of Viña del Mar, causing 112 deaths so far, in which is already the biggest tragedy since the 2010 earthquake.
According to the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred), in the aforementioned coastal region alone, nearly 8,500 hectares have already burned, including dozens of irregular camps (tomas) that hung from the hills near the Lake Peñuelas natural park. .