MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

At least 10 killed in simultaneous wildfires across Chile

Boric declared a national emergency

At least ten people were reported Friday to have died in Chile as forest firest gripped the Valparaíso area, where President Gabriel Boric Font decreed a state of emergency.

Local authorities reported that at least ten people had died and around 1,000 homes had been affected by the fires near the beach resort of Viña del Mar.

Sofía González, the presidential delegate to Valparaiso, insisted the body count by Carabineros (military police) was preliminary while Valparaíso Governor Rodrigo Mundaca said more information was to become available on Saturday after the Committee for Risk and Disaster Management (Cogrid) convenes. In Valparaíso alone, the fire has consumed more than 7,000 hectares in a fire of “extreme behavior”, according to the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf).

“We have preliminary information that there are indeed people who have died. We do not know how many. There is very preliminary information and we are not going to know until the first rays of sunlight of the day arrive to provide more precise information,” said Manduca.

”We are facing an unprecedented catastrophe (...) There are more than five simultaneous outbreaks,“ Viña del Mar Mayor Macarena Ripamonti said.

Boric's emergency declaration allows for the speedier deployment of relief missions to the areas affected. ”The situation of the forest fires, especially in the fifth region, is very difficult due to the temperatures and winds, but we are deployed to the maximum of our capacities to face the emergency,“ the head of state noted. All ”forces are deployed in the fight against forest fires in the central and southern part of the country,” he also pointed out on social networks.

The fires coincide with one of the most intense heat waves in recent years, with temperatures reaching 38 degrees Celsius in the central zone. At least 10 outbreaks were reported in Valparaíso, O'Higgins, Maule, Biobío, La Araucanía, and Los Lagos.