The monumental statues of Easter Island damaged by the flames. A fire on the Chilean island has caused “irreparable damage” to the moai, these large sculpted faces with a mysterious meaning, authorities lament in a statement released Thursday.
“Irreparable damage”
“More than 100 hectares have been affected in the Rano Raraku sector that includes wetlands and moai,” they said Thursday on Facebook.
Community director Ma’u Henua, in charge of park maintenance, believes “irreparable” damage has been done to the UNESCO-listed statues, blackened by flames.
“The moai are completely charred,” he laments.
A site dating from the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Fires have been ravaging the Polynesian island since Monday. After leaving near the Rano Raraku volcano, they later arrived at its famous archaeological site that dates back to the 13th and 15th centuries, the undersecretary in charge of cultural heritage Carolina Pérez stated on Twitter.
If the origin of the fire is unknown, the mayor of the island believes that it cannot be accidental. “All the fires in Rapa Nui are caused by human beings,” he told local media.
The authorities also lament a “shortage of volunteers” that makes the fight against the fires “more complex”. An extraordinary meeting on this issue with the authorities is planned.
The number of damaged statues and the exact extent of the damage has yet to be assessed. The island has more than 1,000 of these almost 4-meter-high monolithic statues.
Source: BFM TV
