Chile declared a state of emergency on Friday as officials said 10 people were feared dead in forest fires in the central Valparaiso region, where blazes are threatening hundreds of homes. 

Officials there gave the "preliminary" toll as Chilean President Gabriel Boric decreed "a state of emergency due to catastrophe, in order to have all the necessary resources" to fight the fires.

"We have preliminary information that there are indeed people who have died. We don't know how many. There is very preliminary information and we will not know until the first rays of sunlight arrive to provide more precise information," governor of Valparaiso, Rodrigo Mundaca, was quoted by local media as saying. 

According to local media, forest fires have destroyed more than 6,000 hectares in Valparaiso region and 12 preventive evacuations have been ordered.

(With input from agencies)