A wildfire that devastated Easter Island has charred some of its mythical monumental figures in carved stone, known as moai, the government said Thursday.
“About 60 hectares (148 acres) were affected, some moai,” Carolina Perez, undersecretary of cultural heritage, said in a message on Twitter.
On Easter Island, located about 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles) off Chile’s west coast, a hundred hectares have been ravaged by flames since Monday, Perez said. The domain around the Rano Raraku volcano, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the most affected.
The fireplace arrives 3 months after the island reopened to tourism.
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.
“Repair the damage caused through the chimney,” Pedro Edmunds, mayor of Easter Island, told local media.
There is no report on general damages.
But the chimney comes 3 months after the island reopened to tourism on August 5, after two years of closure due to COVID-19.
The chimney in Rapa Nui National Park on Easter Island, Chile
Before the pandemic, Easter Island – whose main sustenance is tourism – gained about 160,000 visitors a year, on two flights.
But with the arrival of COVID-19 in Chile, tourism activity has been suspended.
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The island has long been inhabited by Polynesians, before Chile annexed it in 1888.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed. )
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