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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 complicated efforts to control fires that have claimed at least 23 lives so far.
More than 1,100 people have sought refuge in shelters while at least 979 people have been reported injured as a result of the raging fires, according to a briefing by officials on Saturday.
The latest emergency order covers the southern region of Araucania, next to the previously declared Biobio and Nuble regions, located near the middle of Chile's long Pacific coastline.
Brigade members of the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) fight 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 at a news conference in the capital Santiago.
"We need to reverse that curve," she added, noting that on Friday 76 more fires had ignited.
Another 16 fires sparked to life on Saturday, according to officials, as local temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere summer exceeded 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).
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