A forest fire that devastated more than a hundred hectares of national park, with moai “totally burned”
A wildfire that devastated Easter Island has charred some of its monumental stone-carved figures, known as moai, the government said.
The chimney is believed to have swept through Rapa Nui National Park, 3,500 km (2,175 miles) off Chile’s west coast, causing “irreparable” damage to the archaeological site.
“More than a hundred hectares (247 acres) have been affected in the Rano Raraku area, which includes the wetlands and moai sector,” the national park said Thursday on its official Facebook page.
Carolina Perez, undersecretary of cultural heritage, said the island, 3,500 km (2,175 miles) off Chile’s west coast, had been engulfed in flames since Monday.
Rapa Nui has more than 1,000 stone statues, giant heads that are believed to have been first sculpted in the thirteenth century by the first inhabitants of the island. The surroundings of the Rano Raraku volcano, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, would have been the most affected.
It is estimated that several hundred moai are discovered in this area, as well as in the quarry from which the stone with which the carvings are carved is extracted.
Ariki Tepano, director of the Ma’u Henua network in charge of managing and maintaining the park, called the damage “irreparable. “
“The moai are completely charred and you can see the effect of fire on them,” he said.
Easter Island Mayor Pedro Edmunds Paoa said he believed the chimney was “not an accident” and told local radio station Radio Pauta that “all the chimneys on Rapa Nui are caused by human beings. “
“Repair the damage caused through the chimney,” Paoa added. “The cracking of an original and iconic stone is recovered, no matter how many millions of euros or dollars are invested in it. “
The park said a “shortage of volunteers” had hampered officials’ ability to control the chimney. The overall damage to the park has not yet been assessed.
The fireplace arrives 3 months after the island reopened to tourism on August 5, after two years of closure due to Covid-19.
Before the pandemic, Easter Island – where the main sustenance is tourism – gained 160,000 visitors a year, on two flights.
But with the arrival of Covid-19 in Chile, tourism activity has been suspended.
The island has long been inhabited by Polynesians, before Chile annexed it in 1888. The monuments are believed to constitute the living ancestors of Easter Island’s Polynesians and were once connected to ritual activity, forming a focal point for communities.