Chilean authorities have arrested a volunteer firefighter and a former forestry official on suspicion of starting devastating wildfires that killed more than a hundred people earlier this year.
The two suspects were charged with arson resulting in death on Friday, according to the National Prosecutor’s Office. A court in the city of Valparaíso ordered that they be put in pre-trial detention on Saturday, the office said. At least 137 people were killed in the fires that tore across large parts of central and northern Chile in February, leaving 16,000 people displaced and damaging more than 9,800 buildings, according to government figures.
It was one of the largest disasters recorded in the country in the last 30 years, according to estimates by the Research Center for Integrated Disaster Risk Management in Chile. Investigators have evidence the two men agreed “in advance to carry out this type of conduct when the meteorological conditions were precisely adequate to ensure that a fire of this proportion would occur,” regional prosecutor Claudia Perivancich said on Saturday.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
FTSE 100 Keeps Hitting New Records, while Dow and Nasdaq 100 Continue to GainIndices begun the week well on Monday, and the FTSE 100 is poised to rejoin the fray at new record highs this morning.
Read more »
Chile accuses volunteer firefighter and ex-forestry official with causing huge fire that killed 137A Chilean judge has ordered a volunteer firefighter and a former forestry official detained for allegedly planning and causing a mammoth forest fire that caused 137 deaths and made 16,000 people homeless in February
Read more »
Chile accuses volunteer firefighter and ex-forestry official with causing huge fire that killed 137A Chilean judge has ordered a volunteer firefighter and a former forestry official detained for allegedly planning and causing a mammoth forest fire that caused 137 deaths and made 16,000 people homeless in February. The court in Valparaiso ruled Saturday that the two men can be held for 180 days while they are investigated.
Read more »
Chile accuses volunteer firefighter and ex-forestry official with causing huge fire that killed 137A Chilean judge has ordered a volunteer firefighter and a former forestry official detained for allegedly planning and causing a mammoth forest fire that caused 137 deaths and made 16,000 people homeless in February.
Read more »
Chile accuses volunteer firefighter and ex-forestry official with causing huge fire that killed 137A Chilean judge has ordered a volunteer firefighter and a former forestry official detained for allegedly planning and causing a mammoth forest fire that caused 137 deaths and made 16,000 people homeless in February.
Read more »
Chile accuses volunteer firefighter and ex-forestry official with causing huge fire that killed 137A Chilean judge has ordered a volunteer firefighter and a former forestry official detained for allegedly planning and causing a mammoth forest fire that caused 137 deaths and made 16,000 people homeless in February.
Read more »