Sinkholes threaten luxury properties in Chilean tourist town June 16, 2024

The high-end property is located in a 28-hectare dune field that, until 1994, was part of a natural sanctuary protected by the state (RODRIGO ARANGUA)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Sinkholes threaten luxury properties in Chilean tourist town

It was supposed to be paradise on earth: a luxury apartment building just a few meters from the beach, with breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean.

However, the heavy rains that have hit Chile in recent days have caused a giant sinkhole to open up underneath this high-end property in the resort town of Vina del Mar, causing hundreds of residents to evacuate.

The 13-storey building, with 200 apartments worth up to US$500,000 each, is now over a hole 15 meters long and 30 meters deep, the third such hole to have opened up on the site in less than a year.

Sergio Silva, 77, one of the few residents left in Euromarina II, was trying to get some of his belongings into a car to take them to a safer place, as more rain was forecast.

"We're taking important things, not everything," Silva told AFP.

Residents of the building below the Euromarina II, at sea level, also had to leave their homes for fear that it would collapse on them.

"Some people left as a precaution. Those of us who stayed are prepared in case of an emergency or if we have to evacuate," says Claudio Camus, 43, a resident of the Eurovista building, which is below Euromarina II.

- A 'reckless' sale -

The high-end property is located in a 28-hectare dune field which, until 1994, was part of a state-protected natural sanctuary.

However a change in regulations allowed high-rise and high-density construction in the area, and there are currently 44 luxury buildings on the site.

Then, in August and September last year, two landslides destroyed the foundations of three other buildings: the Kandinsky, the Miramar-Renaca, and the Santorini. Even the coastal road was interrupted due to the broken sidewalk.

"The risks taken in the building there are gigantic," the mayor of Vina del Mar, Macarena Ripamonti, told AFP, adding that the property was "sold very recklessly".

Urban sprawl over the dunes posed a clear risk, and intense storms, the result of the El Niño weather phenomenon or the consequences of climate change, have given critics reason to believe.

"It's a fragile sector that should have been preserved," says urban planner and mayoral candidate Ivan Poduje, calling it a "bad urban planning decision".

Experts say the potholes are caused by overflowing rainwater collectors.

While engineers work to fix the water collection system, Ripamonti, the mayor, says she won't leave anything to chance: "I won't allow another building to be built there."

By Pedro SCHWARZE

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