50 people will enter Chaitén to recover personal possessions

CHAITÉN.- Following a visit by government authorities yesterday, led by the Minister of Housing, Patricia Poblete, along with the governor of the Los Lagos Region, Sergio Galilea, some 50 Chaitén homeowners, who had been evacuated from the area after the eruption of the Chaitén volcano in the beginning of May, will be allowed to enter the “restriction zone”.

The purpose of the visit to the city, which has been devastated by ash-fall and the overflow of the Rio Blanco River, is to recover some of the possessions that were left behind during the massive evacuation measure.

The trip is expected to last an entire day, since the people who will visit the area are those that were most affected by the flooding of the Blanco River and most likely will not be able to find anything left of their homes, or will see that they have been covered by the avalanche of ash and mud. 

The first group of evacuees to return to Chaitén will be transported from Puerto Montt in a Navy vessel, but will only be allowed to stay for a few hours while under severe security measures instated by officials from the National Police and Armed Forces.