Chile: At least 112 killed as wildfires continue to rage; president warns toll expected to rise

At least 112 people have been killed as wildfires continued to rage across central Chile, reported news agency AFP citing the national organisation in charge of managing victims’ bodies.

On Sunday (Feb 4),President Gabriel Boric had said that the toll is expected to rise in coming days.

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The death toll rose from 51 on Saturday (Feb 3).

“We are facing a tragedy of very great magnitude,” said Boric, adding it was the country’s deadliest disaster since a 2010 earthquake and tsunami that killed 500 people.

The Chilean president has announced two days of national mourning starting on Monday (Feb 5) and asked the country to be prepared for more bad news.

Around 200 people have been reported missing in Viña del Mar and the surrounding area, according to officials.

Situation in Chile

The wildfires which began several days ago have left bodies in the streets and homes gutted, while officials warned of “complicated” weather conditions in the coastal tourist region of Valparaiso.

The region has witnessed an intense summer heat wave, with temperatures soaring to 40 degrees Celsius over the weekend.

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Firefighters continue to battle the massive fires which have been burning with the highest intensity around the city of Viña del Mar, one of the coastal cities popular with tourists.

At least 1,600 people were left without homes around the city, reported the Associated Press citing officials.

Chilean authorities have introduced a 9:00 pm (local time) curfew in the hardest-hit areas and sent in the military to help firefighters stem the spread of fires.

As of Sunday, nearly 26,000 hectares have been burned across the central and southern regions, according to the national disaster service, SENAPRED.

The SENAPRED chief Alvaro Hormazabal, as per AFP, said firefighters were battling 34 blazes as of Sunday morning, with 43 others under control. Weather “conditions are going to continue to be complicated,” he added.

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Rodrigo Mundaca, the governor of the Valparaiso region, on Sunday, said that he believed some of the fires could have been intentionally caused, replicating a theory mentioned by Boric.

“These fires began in four points that lit up simultaneously,” Mundaca said, as per AP. “As authorities we will have to work rigorously to find who is responsible.”

Notably, wildfires are not uncommon during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer but have become more lethal in recent years. The recent forest fires have been attributed to unusually high temperatures, low humidity and high wind speeds in central Chile.

(With inputs from agencies)