At the Concepción Guarantee Court, the re-formalization hearing was held for Claudio Luna, the -so far- only defendant in the investigation of the megafire recorded in the Biobío Region, an environmental and human disaster that severely affected various populated and rural sectors, including Penco-Lirquén, Punta de Parra, and rural areas of the Concepción commune.
Although at the first formalization instance, held in January 2026, days after the disaster, the Public Prosecutor's Office had formally notified Claudio Luna of charges for the consummated crime of forest fire, in addition to 20 counts of negligent homicide, 14 counts of negligent serious and less serious injuries, along with various property damages; during this new hearing the Prosecutor's Office updated the background information and officially reported that the number of fatalities resulting from the catastrophe rose to 21 people.
This increase in the death toll was due to the death of Carlos Bello, who died on March 17, 2026, at the Las Higueras Hospital in Talcahuano, as a result of the severe injuries and burns suffered at his home located in the Punta de Parra sector, in the Tomé commune.
Asked about the details of this hearing by Diario Concepción, Jorge Lorca, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, referred extensively to the re-formalization process of the defendant and stated that "we reported some clarifications regarding the location, the exact origin of the fire, and the identification of one of the individuals who was not identified as of the date of the events, and who was later identified thanks to the specialized work of the police."
Investigation
It is worth recalling that the Concepción Guarantee Court, in August of this year, resolved to extend by a six-month period the deadline to conduct the investigation of the megafire. With this judicial resolution, the final date for the conclusion of the inquiries was set for February 4, 2027, timely granting the request made by both the Prosecutor's Office and the plaintiff attorneys, who argued the strict necessity of carrying out key expert procedures that are still pending in the case.
Regarding the general progress of the inquiries, the prosecutor stated that the investigative procedures are already in their terminal phase and that they are currently awaiting two key reports to clarify the dynamics of the megafire: one corresponding to the Investigative Police (PDI) and another prepared by the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf).
"Mainly, there are two major final reports, whose conclusions we must address and analyze together with the teams of the Investigative Police and the National Forestry Corporation," explained prosecutor Lorca.
Likewise, the prosecutor confirmed that in parallel various inquiries continue to be carried out aimed at establishing the eventual criminal or administrative responsibility of state agents in the management of the emergency during the megafire, although he did not specify which entities or public agencies are under scrutiny, specifying that this particular line has not yet been formalized before the courts.
"Here the legal deadline is in favor of the defendant -February 2027-, and regarding it, we have practically exhausted the investigation. The other matter is unformalized, that is, there is no formalization yet and, therefore, we do not have any deadline set in that regard," concluded the prosecutor in charge of the case.
Source:Diario Concepción
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