Chile: 14 Migrants Die in Shanty Town in Bio Bio

On Monday night, at least 14 migrants died in the fire of an illegal shanty town in the municipality of Coronel, in south-central Chile.

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The victims are three families made up of six adults and eight minors between 4 and 13 years old, all of whom lived in two precarious buildings in overcrowded conditions.

The first investigations indicate that the origin of the incident had been the malfunction of a brass stove with which one of the families was trying to warm themselves.

“The causes of the fire are being investigated. Preliminarily, the Fire Department indicated that the fire would have originated in a stove that would have caused a major ignition, generating a fire at the entrance of the house, causing the people who were inside to be trapped," explained Hugo Cuevas, the prosecutor deputy in the Bio Bio region.

The tragedy broke out after sunset in one of the precarious buildings in an illegal neighborhood located at the intersection of Vista Hermosa and Central Street.

“We are going to work based on DNA. The bodies will be referred to the Legal Medical Service (SML) and there, with the support of already individualized family members, the biological correspondence of said people will be able to be established,” Cuevas said.

"Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims, as well as with the general residents of that city," Interior Minister Carolina Toha said.