Death Toll from Chile Wildfire Reaches Eighteen
Gabriel Boric, Chile's president, delivered the grim update Sunday from Concepcion in the Biobio region, situated roughly 500 kilometers south of the capital Santiago.
"Today we have a confirmed number of 18 fatalities, but unfortunately we are certain that this figure will rise," Boric told reporters.
Initial damage assessments reveal approximately 300 residences reduced to ash in Biobio alone, though Boric cautioned the destruction could surpass 1,000 homes once officials complete their surveys.
Emergency curfews took effect Saturday night across the municipalities of Penco, Nacimiento, and Laja. In Lirquen—among the most severely impacted zones where fires have consumed roughly 80 percent of the area—an earlier-imposed curfew remains in place with no end date specified.
The National Forestry Corporation reports 14 active blazes currently under red alert status across Chile, with flames having scorched more than 24,000 hectares nationwide. The most extensive inferno rages in Concepcion, where over 10,600 hectares have burned.
Boric has issued a catastrophe declaration for the Nuble and Biobio regions to mobilize emergency response resources.
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