Wildfires sweeping through central Chile have killed at least 99 people and hundreds are still missing, authorities said on Sunday, as President Gabriel Boric warned the country faces a "tragedy of very great magnitude".
Wildfires that began several days ago are menacing 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 remains of burned houses are seen, following the spread of wildfires. Image: Reuters
Drone footage filmed by Reuters in the Vina del Mar area showed entire neighbourhoods scorched, with residents rummaging through husks of burnt-out houses where corrugated iron roofs have collapsed. On the streets, singed cars littered the roads.
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 99 people have died in the fires, with 32 bodies identified.
Earlier in the day Boric, announcing two days of national mourning starting on Monday, said Chile should prepare itself for more bad news.
"It is Chile as a whole that suffers and mourns our dead," Boric said in a televised speech to the nation. "We are facing a tragedy of very great magnitude."
Hundreds of people also have been reported missing, authorities said. More than 1,000 homes have been damaged. Officials on Saturday said more than 90 fires were raging across Chile.
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 heat wave, some 27 people died and more than 400,000 hectares (990,000 acres) of land 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.
Source: Reuters
智利森林大火已造成99人死亡、數百人失踪
當局週日表示，席捲智利中部的野火已造成至少 99 人死亡，數百人仍失踪，總統加布里埃爾·博里奇警告該國面臨「非常嚴重的悲劇」。
幾天前開始的野火正在威脅比尼亞德爾馬和瓦爾帕萊索這兩個深受遊客歡迎的沿海城市的外緣。 這些城市的城市擴張導致首都聖地牙哥以西的居民超過一百萬。
路透社在比尼亞德爾馬地區拍攝的無人機鏡頭顯示，整個社區都被燒焦，居民在燒毀的房屋外殼中翻找，那裡的波紋鐵皮屋頂已經倒塌。 街道上，燒焦的汽車散落在路上。
智利當局推出了晚上 9 點的限行令。 在受災最嚴重的地區實施宵禁，並派出軍隊幫助消防員阻止火勢蔓延，同時直升機傾倒水試圖撲滅空中的火焰。
智利法律醫療服務處、國家驗屍官稱，火災已造成 99 人死亡，其中 32 具屍體已確認身份。
當天早些時候，博里克宣布從週一開始全國哀悼兩天，並表示智利應該為更多壞消息做好準備。
博里克在向全國發表的電視講話中說：“整個智利都在遭受苦難並哀悼我們的死者。” “我們正面臨一場非常嚴重的悲劇。”
當局稱，據報道還有數百人失蹤。 超過 1,000 棟房屋受損。 官員週六表示，智利全國共有 90 多起火災。
儘管野火在南半球夏季並不罕見，但這些火災的致命性卻十分突出，使其成為該國自 2010 年地震以來最嚴重的國家災難，這場地震造成約 500 人死亡。
去年，創紀錄的熱浪造成約 27 人死亡，超過 40 萬公頃（99 萬英畝）土地受到影響。
博里克試圖將資金引導到受災最嚴重的地區，其中許多地區深受遊客歡迎。
博里克說：“我們所有人都在一起，應對緊
急情況。首要任務是拯救生命。”
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