At least 19 people have died due to forest fires in central Chile that have destroyed about 1,100 homes.
Officials said on Saturday that the death toll could rise as rescue teams reached the worst-hit areas of the Valparaiso region.
Chilean Interior Minister Carolina Toha said that there are 92 forest fires burning in the center and south of the country, affecting 43,000 hectares.
She said the biggest concern for authorities is that some fires are breaking out near densely populated areas, “with a very high probability of impacting people, homes and facilities.”
Forest fires are not uncommon in Chile during the summer. Fires during last year's record heat wave killed 27 people and burned more than 400,000 hectares.
“The area experiencing fires today is much smaller than last year [but] “At this time the number of hectares affected is multiplying very quickly,” Ms. Toha said.
Photo: Reuters
She added that one of the fires threatens the coastal resort of Vina del Mar, where some areas have already been severely damaged.
In Villa Independencia, a hillside neighborhood in the east of the city, several blocks of homes and businesses were completely destroyed. Burnt cars with broken windows littered the streets covered in ash.
“I've been here for 32 years, and I never imagined this would happen,” Rolando Fernandez, who lost his home, told the Associated Press news agency.
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Burnt houses in the Villa Independencia area of Vina del Mar. Photo: AP
He said he first saw the fire burning on a nearby hill Friday afternoon. Within 15 minutes, fire and smoke engulfed the area, forcing everyone to run for their lives.
“I've worked all my life, and now I have nothing left,” he said.
Three shelters were set up in the Valparaiso region, where four hospitals and three nursing homes were evacuated.
The El Niño climate phenomenon has caused droughts and higher-than-normal temperatures in western South America this year, increasing the risk of forest fires.
