Chile Forest Fires Kill At Least 46, Toll Likely To Increase

The forest fires in Central Chile which started on Friday has led to the death of 46 people and affected 43,000 hectares of forest.

Forest fires ripping through Central Chile have claimed the lives of at least 46 people, President Gabriel Boric disclosed on Saturday. He said that the casualty count is likely to escalate further, reported Reuters.

Black smoke rose into the sky in various parts of the Valparaiso region, which is home to nearly one million residents in central Chile. Firefighters struggled as they tried to utilise helicopters and trucks to combat the spreading flames, Reuters reported.

The coastal tourist city of Vina del Mar and its surrounding areas have experienced severe impacts from the fires. The Chilean authorities said on Saturday that the rescue teams faced difficulties in reaching the affected areas.

President Boric, in his address to the nation, revealed that 40 individuals lost their lives in the forest fires and six others succumbed to their burns in hospitals, Reuters reported. 

Boric said that the situation is really difficult and, "given the conditions of the tragedy, the number of victims is sure to increase over the next few hours." 

The Chilean disaster agency Senapred said that the death toll means this is Chile's deadliest outbreak of forest fires in the past decade.

Interior Minister Carolina Toha said that there were 92 active fires across Chile, which resulted in over 43,000 hectares being affected by the incident. She also reported 19 fatalities earlier in the day, Reuters reported.

Amid a record heatwave, approximately 27 people have died and more than 4,00,000 hectares have been affected due to the wildfires in Chile, which have been a recurring phenomenon in the nation during the summer months.

Reuters quoted Carolina saying,"The area with fires today is much smaller than last year (but) at this time the number of hectares affected is multiplying very rapidly." 

Carolina said that the greatest concern for the authorities was that there was a very high potential that the fire might affect people, homes, and facilities as some parts of the active fires were developing very close to urban areas, Reuters reported.

Chile had declared a state of emergency as it battled the spread of forest forest fire in its Central region. Ever since it began on Friday, thousands of hectares of forest were ravaged by the fire, forcing the people to flee their homes in Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, reported Al Jazeera.

According to scientists, the blaze is driven by a summer heatwave and drought which was caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon, Al Jazeera reported.