Chile: State of Emergency Widened, Raging Wildfires Leave At least 13 Dead

By Staff, Agencies

Chile’s government has declared a widened state of emergency amid wildfires that have killed at least 13 people and consumed about 14,000 hectares [35,000 acres], as the South American country endures a summer heatwave across southern and central swaths of the country.

The interior minister, Carolina Toha, announced that the government had declared a catastrophe in the region of Biobío, joining its neighboring region Ñuble, which President Gabriel Boric announced on Thursday evening, allowing the deployment of soldiers and additional resources.

Eleven people, including a firefighter, had died in the Biobío town of Santa Juana, local authorities said.

The agriculture minister, Esteban Valenzuela, also reported an emergency-support helicopter in the southern region of La Araucanía had crashed, killing the pilot and a mechanic.

“Hundreds of homes had been damaged while 39 fires raged across the country,” Toha said, noting that “The conditions in the coming days are going to be risky.”

Earlier, four people were reported to have died and hundreds were evacuated on Friday when the flames reached the town of Santa Ana.