Chile declares catastrophe as wildfires rage and kill at least 18
President Boric deploys the military to hard-hit regions as fast-moving blazes devour hundreds of homes
Wildfires raging across central and southern Chile on Sunday left at least 18 people dead, scorched thousands of acres of forest and destroyed hundreds of homes, authorities said, as the South American country sweltered under a heatwave.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe in the country’s central Biobio region and the neighbouring Nuble region, around 500km (300 miles) south of Santiago, the capital.
The emergency designation allows the suspension of constitutional rights and greater coordination with the military to rein in over two dozen active wildfires that have so far blazed through 8,500 hectares (21,000 acres), according to the national forestry agency.
In a press conference from the hard-hit city of Concepcion in the Biobio region, Boric expressed his support and condolences to the victims and warned that the government’s initial reports of 18 people killed and 300 houses destroyed were expected to rise as the extent of the losses came into focus.
He estimated the total number of affected homes in the Biobio region alone to be “certainly more than a thousand, just so far”.