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Friday 22 Nov 2024
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
Wildfires blazing across central and southern Chile have left at least 19 people dead, officials said, warning the toll was likely to climb as responders comb through burnt-out homes and the flames continue to spread. (Photo/AP)
Wildfires blazing across central and southern Chile have left at least 19 people dead, officials said, warning the toll was likely to climb as responders comb through burnt-out homes and the flames continue to spread.
"There are 19 people dead," Interior Minister Carolina Toha said on Saturday, noting that the toll is "very provisional" because responders have not yet been able to enter some affected areas.
She said there were 92 active fires, with 430 square kilometres burned across the country.
The blazes are concentrated in the Valparaiso tourist region, along central Chile's coastline, where they have ravaged thousands of hectares of forest, cloaked coastal cities in a dense fog of grey smoke and forced people to flee their homes.
"The priority is on the fires in the Valparaiso region because of their proximity to urban areas, where we have several fires," said Toha.
She said more firefighting vehicles were not required at the moment because the area "is not very large. It is very dense, but not very extensive."
President Gabriel Boric decreed a state of emergency as dry conditions in the area and temperatures soaring to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) exacerbate the crisis.
In addition, authorities declared a curfew for Saturday morning in the two regions until noon (1500 GMT) to facilitate the movement of evacuees and emergency responders.
'Never seen anything like it'
In the hillsides around the coastal city of Vina del Mar, entire blocks of homes were burned out overnight, reporters saw on Saturday morning.
Some dead victims could be seen lying in the road covered in sheets.
The area, about 1.5 hours northwest of the capital Santiago, is a popular tourist destination during the hot summer months.
In the towns of Estrella and Navidad, southwest of the capital, the fires have burned nearly 30 homes, and forced evacuations near the surfing resort of Pichilemu.
"I've never seen anything like it," 63-year-old Yvonne Guzman said. When the flames started to close in on her home in Quilpue, she fled with her elderly mother, only to be trapped in traffic for hours.
"It's very distressing, because we've evacuated the house but we can't move forward. There are all these people trying to get out and who can't move," she said.
Around 70 square kilometres have been burned in Valparaiso alone, according to CONAF, the Chilean national forest authority, which called the blazes "extreme."
In addition to Valparaiso, firefighters and emergency services personnel are battling 10 outbreaks affecting regions in the centre and south of the country, including O'Higgins, Maule, Biobio, La Araucania and Los Lagos.
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Source: TRT
