The emergency is 80% controlled. They do not rule out criminal hands.
This Friday, May 3, 2024, the Minister of the Environment, Susana Muhamad, arrived at the Unified Command Post (PMU) that has authorities and relief agencies for the serious forest fire that is registered in the Isla Salamanca Park, in the department of Magdalena, but that affects Barranquilla, and assured that what happened was an “ecocide.”
“We have decided to file a criminal action for investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office for ecocide, since we have already managed to identify the property where the fire started, which is outside National Parks. And we have called on the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, to provide security support and protect the area where the emergency is occurring, to avoid new outbreaks,” the official explained.
Muhamad indicated that, although the emergency is 80% controlled, the risk of new fire outbreaks is very likely due to the high temperatures. In addition, he announced that several forestry brigades will arrive in Barranquilla from Bogotá and Yopal with the purpose of reinforcing the efforts to extinguish the flames in this area of the Magdalena department.
“All institutions are on site. There are, apparently, according to what was seen from the helicopter, eight small pockets of smoke. The National Police plane is already carrying out the downloads, as is the Colombian Air Force helicopter,” he indicated.
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