All fires are extinguished in Chile after the disaster
All forest fires in Chile's coastal region of Valpariso have now been extinguished, after the massive fire disaster that claimed at least 131 lives and devastated entire communities, reports AFP.
"The state of emergency that began on February 2 is now considered to have been called off," the fire brigade said in the city of Viña del Mar, one of the worst affected.
At least 15,000 homes in the region are said to have been affected by the fires, and thousands of people left homeless are now forced to sleep in tents.
The fires were Chile's deadliest natural disaster since the 2010 earthquake and tsunami, which killed around 500 people.
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Scientists: Extreme heat fueled the fires in Chile
Survivors describe the catastrophic forest fires in Chile as a "hellish nightmare" - a firestorm that jumped from mountain to mountain and devoured everything in its path in just seconds, reports Reuters.
The region is hit by wildfires every year, but the most recent fires were unprecedented in their speed and lethality. Part of the explanation was high wind speeds, but scientists also highlight the exceptional heat, driven by climate change and the El Niño weather phenomenon.
- What was different this time was that the temperatures were much higher than before [...] What happened last week was not normal, says Raul Cordero, climatologist at the University of Santiago.
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