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Firefighters battled dozens of wildfires in Chile on Sunday, trying to control one of the country’s worst natural disasters in years as the death toll rose to at least 24 and nearly 1,000 others injured.
International aid will arrive on Sunday from several countries with resources, including aircraft and expert firefighting teams, as the most intense wildfires burn through forests and farmland in three regions near the center of the South American country’s long Pacific coast.
The government of President Gabriel Boric has issued an emergency declaration for the most rural southern regions of Biobio, Nuble and Araucania in an effort to speed up relief.
The fire has burned about 270,000 acres, officials said Sunday, or an area roughly the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island.
Heat wave
A devastating heat wave in the Southern Hemisphere has complicated efforts to put out fires, as temperatures in some of the worst-hit areas have exceeded 104 F or 40 C.
An intense pocket of fire was seen jumping out of the forested hills on the coast, near the town of Dichato, outside the town of Concepcion in the Biobio region on Saturday night, as the light from the fire lit up the boats in the small port.
Thirteen people died – more than half of the reported fire victims – from Biobio, which, like Nuble and Araucania, is home to extensive forests as well as farms growing grapes and other fruits for export.
About 260 fires are active in the dry region, interior ministry officials said on Sunday, with 28 considered dangerous.
Nearly 1,500 people have fled to area shelters. At least 26 of the 970 injured are listed in serious condition in local hospitals.
Chilean officials are asking for international help to fight the fires, with new ones coming to life every day.
While authorities on Saturday said help would arrive from countries including the United States, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil and Venezuela, a team of special personnel from Spain was on its way on Sunday.
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