The Chilean Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, has updated Thursday the data on the fires affecting the south-central area of the country, and reported that so far 50 people have been arrested.
The National Forestry Corporation already confirmed a few days ago that, according to its investigations, 25 percent of the fires would have been caused by arson.
Even so, not all those arrested are suspected of intentionally setting a fire, as there have also been cases of negligence and obstruction of emergency teams. Tohá detailed that 46 of the arrests have been made by the Carabineros, while four people have been detained by the Investigative Police.
She also explained that there are currently 137 investigations in the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and that the balance of the damages produced so far is 2,146 houses destroyed, 7,526 people affected, with 120 of them staying in shelters, and 3,247 cases that have had to be attended by the health teams.
At the moment, the minister detailed, there are 601 active fires, and 38 others are being fought. At the moment, 133 fires have been controlled, according to the newspaper ‘El Mercurio’.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
