Mayor Galilea announces area reduction of no-entry zone in Chaiten

SANTIAGO.- The mayor of the Los Lagos Region, Sergio Galilea, announced this morning that the government has decided to reduce the no-entry zone in Chaiten to a 15-mile radius around the volcano of the same name.

According to the mayor, this will allow families who lived in the outskirts of the town to access their homes and recover some of their possessions.

Two months after the eruption, the mix of ash and water coverning the city following the overflow of the Rio Blanco River continues to keep regional authorities on alert about what this will mean for residents.

Those affected by the reduction measure scheduled to be declared this afternoon will mainly be residents of the Santa Bárbara and El Amarillo sectors, who will even be permitted to reinhabit their former residences.