2023-11-07 02:46:37
– 14 Venezuelan migrants die in fire
A fire broke out in a slum in southern Chile on Monday, killing 14 Venezuelan migrants. The fire apparently started from a stove made by the victims to protect themselves from the cold.
Posted today at 3:46 a.m. Updated 29 minutes ago
Venezuelan migrants arrive at the Bolivia-Chile border on March 24, 2022. Since the severe economic and political crisis that erupted in Venezuela in 2017, the number of migrants from that country has increased significantly in Chile.
AFP
Fourteen Venezuelan migrants, including several children, died Monday in a violent fire which broke out in a slum in Coronel, in southern Chile, the town hall announced.
“We regret to announce the death of 14 residents of our town. These are three families, eight minors, six adults, who died due to this fire which destroyed their homes,” Javier Valencia, deputy mayor of Coronel, a town located 530 km to the south, told the press. of Santiago.
“These are Venezuelan families” living in extreme precariousness in two overcrowded accommodations, he added. It was “very difficult for the emergency services to reach them in good conditions to be able to help them,” explained Javier Valencia.
The exact causes of the incident remain to be determined, but according to the first elements of the investigation, the fire started from a stove made by the victims to protect themselves from the cold.
Since the serious economic and political crisis that erupted in Venezuela in 2017, the number of migrants from that country has increased significantly in Chile. Thousands of them arrived on foot via Bolivia or Peru, through clandestine crossing points, and the movement grew during the Covid-19 pandemic. These migrants often crowd into shanty towns built on unsuitable land, where fires and accidents occur regularly.
Did you find an error? Please report it to us.
1699326993
#Chile #Venezuelan #migrants #die #fire
