Argentina’s Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Juan Cabandié, has confirmed the dispatch of 64 brigadiers and specialized equipment to tackle the wave of forest fires that are raging in the center-south of the Latin American country and have so far left 23 people dead.
«At the request of the president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, to our president, Alberto Fernández, we will send resources to fight the forest fires in the neighboring country,» the head of Environment has communicated through Twitter.
These resources consist of 64 brigadistas; 15 4×4 pickup trucks with attack equipment; a 4×4 forest fire truck and a Boeing Chinook Helicopter with 10,000 liters of capacity.
«Fires have no borders, there is no country in the world that is exempt», added Cabandié while he also alluded to the effects of global warming, such as prolonged droughts and the increase in the average temperature, which «generate the conditions for any small outbreak to get out of control».
For his part, the president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, thanked the team for sending it: «Many thanks to our Argentine brothers. United in difficult moments», he responded.
During the day of Sunday, the National Service for Disaster Prevention and Response (Senapred) of Chile has raised the number of deaths to 23; 1,111 people in shelters; 865 victims and also notes a total of 979 people injured but has not specified their severity.
It also points out that 563 houses are currently under evaluation due to the damage caused, while a total of 20 educational centers have been damaged.
This same Saturday, the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, confirmed the activation of a request for international support in search of help from abroad to strengthen the fight against the fires in Chile.
These requests have been addressed to Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Spain and other countries, according to the information provided by La Moneda. «Contact has been made with several governments to reinforce efforts previously made with companies that provide services,» he said in comments reported by Radio BíoBío.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
