Wildfires raging in southern Chile have killed at least 16 people and forced more than 50,000 to evacuate, the government said Sunday.
Security Minister Luis Cordero gave the tolls for the blazes burning for two days now in the Nuble and Biobio regions about 500km (300 miles) south of Santiago.
He told reporters Sunday morning that 15 deaths had been confirmed in the Biobio, bringing the total death toll to 16 after the government confirmed a death in Nuble on Saturday.
President Gabriel Boric earlier declared a state of emergency as crews battled flames fueled by gusting winds and hot weather in the southern hemisphere summer.
Nearly two dozen blazes are burning across the country, many of them in Nuble and Biobio.
"We face a complicated situation," Interior Minister Alvaro Elizalde said.
The president announced the state of emergency in Nuble and Biobio in a post on the social media platform X.
"All resources are available," Boric wrote.
Among other things, the declaration means the armed forces will now get involved.
Alicia Cebrian, the director of the National Service for Disaster Prevention and Response, said most of the evacuations were in the Biobio cities of Penco and Lirquen, which have a combined population of around 60,000 people.
Images broadcast by local television showed the flames in both cities, with charred cars in the streets.
Wildfires have severely impacted south-central Chile in recent years.
In February 2024, several fires broke out simultaneously near the city of Vina del Mar, northwest of Santiago, resulting in 138 deaths, according to the public prosecutor's office.
About 16,000 people were affected by those fires, authorities said.
Authorities say adverse conditions like strong winds and high temperatures helped wildfires spread and complicated firefighters' abilities to control the fires.
Much of Chile is under extreme heat alerts, with temperatures expected to reach up to 38° Celsius (100° Fahrenheit) from Santiago to Biobio Sunday and Monday.
Both Chile and Argentina have experienced extreme temperatures and heatwaves since the beginning of the year, with devastating wildfires breaking out in Argentina's Patagonia earlier this month.
