Chile Wildfires Kill At Least 46 In 'unprecedented Catastrophe'

Viña del Mar, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Feb, 2024) Wildfires blazing across Chile have killed at least 46 people, officials said Saturday, leaving bodies in the street and homes gutted as flames continued to spread.

President Gabriel Boric has decreed a state of emergency in the central and southern parts of the country "due to catastrophe," as dry conditions and temperatures soaring to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) exacerbated the crisis.

"There are 40 people who were killed in the fire, and another six (who died) as a result of burns," Boric said, after he surveyed the affected region via helicopter Saturday afternoon.

"We know that these (numbers) will increase," he added.

After the flight he promised, "We will be there as a government to help them get back up (on their feet)."

Dense gray smoke blanketed the Vina del Mar area of the Valparaiso tourist region, along central Chile's coastline, forcing residents to flee their homes.

Authorities imposed a curfew beginning at 9 pm (0000 GMT) Saturday, to allow emergency supplies -- especially fuel -- into the affected areas. New evacuation orders were issued, though it remained unclear exactly how many people have been told to leave.

Earlier Saturday, Interior Minister Carolina Toha said there had been 92 fires as of noon, with 43,000 hectares (106,000 acres) burned across the country.

Firefighters were still battling 29 of the blazes by the afternoon, while 40 had been brought under control.

In the hillsides around the coastal city of Vina del Mar, entire blocks of houses were burned out overnight, AFP reporters saw Saturday morning, as thousands of people who had previously evacuated returned to find their homes destroyed.

Some of the dead were seen lying in the road, covered by sheets.

The area, about 1.5 hours northwest of the capital Santiago, is a popular tourist destination during the summer months. The coastal region is also important for the country's wine, agricultural and logging industries.

In the towns of Estrella and Navidad, southwest of the capital, the fires 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 told AFP. 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.

Vina del Mar Mayor Macarena Ripamonti said, "We're facing an unprecedented catastrophe, a situation of this magnitude has never happened in the Valparaiso region."