Fierce forest fires in Argentina have left 40 people missing and several injured.

In Patagonia, forest fires have spread throughout the so-called "42nd parallel region", a strip of about one hundred kilometers traveled by Route 40 from Epuyén and Lago Puelo, in Chubut, to El Bolsón, in Río Black.

Reportedly of the missing families, twelve are from El Hoyo and belong to two families that live on the slopes of the hills.

In addition to the missing, there are two people hospitalized with serious burns. A woman in her 40s who was transferred from El Hoyo to Bariloche; and a 50-year-old man admitted to the El Maitén hospital. Another 20 people, from different locations, are also injured, with burns and respiratory problems due to inhaled smoke.

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In Patagonia, forest fires have spread throughout the so-called "42nd parallel region", a strip of about one hundred kilometers traveled by Route 40 from Epuyén and Lago Puelo, in Chubut, to El Bolsón, in Río Black.

According to the Argentine newspaper Clarín, as a result of the advance of the flames, there are 40 missing persons. Of these, twelve are from El Hoyo and belong to two families that live on the slopes of the hills.

In addition to the missing, there are two people hospitalized with serious burns. A woman in her 40s who was transferred from El Hoyo to Bariloche; and a 50-year-old man admitted to the El Maitén hospital. Another 20 people, from different locations, are also injured, with burns and respiratory problems due to inhaled smoke.

The affected homes would be more than one hundred. Some totally destroyed by fire.

Those who work closely against fire estimate that these fires exceed those that occurred in 2011 in the same area, when thousands of hectares and native forests were burned that will take at least a hundred years to recover.

The Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Juan Cabandié, announced this Wednesday that he will file a criminal complaint to investigate "intentional fires" in areas of Río Negro and Chubut, which forced the evacuation of at least 200 residents and left "15 missing persons and more than 100 houses affected by the fire ".

The official referred to the fires that affected the Andean Region, which brings together populations, cities and places located northwest of Chubut and southwest of Río Negro.

"Today I am going to file a criminal complaint because unfortunately the records and the information we have indicate that the fire was set on intentionally and whoever did it knew very well how to do it to harm," Cabandié said at a press conference at Government House, where he added that "it is a crime classified in the Penal Code."