Hundreds of people are still missing, authorities say, stoking fears the death toll will keep climbing as more bodies are found on hillsides and houses devastated by the wildfires.
The fires that gathered momentum on Friday now menaced the outer edges of Vina del Mar and Valparaiso, two coastal cities popular with tourists. The urban sprawl of those cities accounts for more than a million residents west of the capital Santiago, The Business Standard reported.
Videos shared on social media showed hillside fires burning close to apartment blocks in the Valparaiso area, spewing smoke into the air. Thick haze blanketed other urban zones, hobbling visibility.
Chilean authorities have introduced a 9 p.m. 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.
Chile’s Legal Medical Service, the state coroner, said 123 people had died in the fires as of Monday evening. The death toll stood at 51 on Saturday.
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.
MP/PR
