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Dozens of wildfires blazing through Chile caused the government to extend an emergency order to another region on Saturday, as a scorching summer heat wave complicates efforts to control fires that have claimed at least 22 lives so far.
The latest emergency order declared by the interior ministry now covers the southern region of La Araucania, next to the previously declared Biobio and Nuble regions, located near the middle of Chile's long Pacific coastline.
A fire in Nacimiento, Concepcion province, Chile, February 4, 2023. /CFP
"Weather conditions have made it very difficult to put out (the fires) that are spreading and the emergency is getting worse," Interior Minister Carolina Toha told reporters on Saturday at a news conference in the capital Santiago.
"We need to reverse that curve," she added, noting that since Friday another 76 fires had ignited.
The sparsely populated three regions covered by the emergency orders are home to many farms, including where grapes, apples and berries are grown for export, plus extensive tracts of forest land.
(Cover image via CFP)
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Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466