PRAYER NEED
Wildfires fuelled by El Niño have killed 12 people in Peru since June
What happened
Forest fires have killed 12 people in Peru since June, most of them farmers hurt while fighting the flames, the country’s civil-defence institute (Indeci) and national emergency operations centre said; the toll doubled in October. Indeci counts the dead in Cusco (4), Cajamarca (3), Apurímac (2), Pasco (2) and Puno (1), and 832 people affected. Authorities recorded 457 forest fires between June and October, which destroyed around 100 homes, left hundreds of people homeless and burned about 12,000 hectares of vegetation and more than 1,000 hectares of farmland. Cusco has been hardest hit, with a fire near Machu Picchu earlier this month, and fires were still burning in the Andes and the Amazon on 22 October as hot, dry El Niño conditions persist.
Farming families in Peru are mourning relatives killed fighting wildfires, and hundreds have lost their homes and crops.
People affected
- People affected
- 832
- Lives lost
- 12
- Homes damaged
- At least 100
Pray for
- Families of those who died fighting the fires
- Families who have lost their homes and crops
- Firefighters and volunteers on the fire lines
- Rain and relief from the heat
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