SANTIAGO: Wildfires raging across central and southern Chile have left at least 18 people dead, scorched thousands of acres of forest and destroyed hundreds of homes, local authorities said, as the South American country swelters under a heat wave.
President of Chile Gabriel Boric has declared a state of catastrophe in the country’s central Biobio region and the neighbouring Ñuble region, around 500 kilometres south of Santiago, the capital.
The fires have consumed nearly 8,500 hectares in the two regions so far, endangering multiple communities and prompting authorities to issue evacuation orders. –Agencies
