Chile declares emergency as wildfires kill more than 60

Santiago — Fires devastating parts of central Chile have killed at least 64 people and the country faces a “tragedy of very great magnitude”, President Gabriel Boric said on Sunday, as he warned that the death toll is likely to rise in the coming days.

Wildfires that began several days ago are menacing the outer edges of Viña del Mar and Valparaíso, two coastal cities popular with tourists. The urban sprawl of those cities accounts for more than a million residents west of the capital Santiago.

Chilean authorities have introduced a 9pm curfew in the hardest-hit areas and sent in the military to help firefighters stem the spread of fires, while helicopters dumped water to try to douse the flames from the air. The government declared a state of emergency, according to reports. 

Boric, announcing two days of national mourning starting on Monday, said Chile should prepare itself for more bad news. The death toll rose from 51 on Saturday.

“We know that figure is going to grow, it’s going to grow significantly,” Boric said in a televised speech to the nation, adding, “We are facing a tragedy of very great magnitude.”

“It is Chile as a whole that suffers and mourns our dead,” Boric said.

Hundreds of people have been reported missing, authorities said, and more than 1,000 homes damaged. Officials on Saturday said more than 90 fires were raging across Chile.

Areas around the coastal tourist city of Vina del Mar have been some of the hardest hit and rescue teams were struggling to reach all the affected areas, Chilean authorities said.

Interior minister Carolina Toha said the country was facing its worst disaster since a 2010 earthquake that killed about 500.

Although wildfires are not uncommon during the southern hemisphere's summer, the lethality of these blazes stands out, making them the country's worst national disaster since the 2010 earthquake in which about 500 people died.

Last year, on the back of a record heatwave, about 27 people died and more than 400,000ha were affected.

Boric has sought to channel funds to the hardest-hit areas, many of which are popular with tourists.

“We are together, all of us, fighting the emergency. The priority is to save lives,” Boric said. 

Between Friday and Saturday the area affected by the wildfires increased to 43,000ha from 30,000.

Toha said the authorities’ greatest concern was that some of the active fires were developing very close to urban areas “with the very high potential to affect people, homes and facilities”.

Update: February 4 2024
This story has been updated with new information.

Reuters