A large-scale fire broke out on Easter Island. It damaged the world-famous stone moai idols

A large-scale forest fire occurred on Easter Island. It seriously damaged the world-famous stone moai idols. Some of them are so charred that they cannot be restored.

The BBC writes about it.

According to Chileʼs deputy minister of cultural heritage, it is not known how many of the stone statues, known as moai, were damaged by the fire.

The fire that broke out on Monday affected "almost 60 hectares. The area around the Rano Raraku volcano, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, suffered the most."

The head of the community of Mau Henua, which looks after the national park, called the fire "irreparable and with consequences that you cannot see".

On Easter Island there are about 1 000 giant stone statues and carved figures, the largest of which weighs 74 tons and reaches 10 meters in height. The figures were carved by the native inhabitants of Rapa Nui sometime between 1400 and 1650 and are arranged to form a ring around the island.