Chile blazes kill at least 46

President Gabriel Boric has decreed a state of emergency in the central and southern parts of the country ‘due to catastrophe’.

The burnt-out hills in Quilpue, Vina del Mar at the weekend. Picture: AFP

Bushfires blazing across Chile have killed at least 46 people, leaving bodies in the street and homes gutted as flames continued to spread.

President Gabriel Boric has decreed a state of emergency in the central and southern parts of the country “due to catastrophe”, as dry conditions and temperatures soaring to 40C exacerbated the crisis.

“There are 40 people who were killed in the fire, and ­another six as a result of burns,” Mr Boric said on Saturday (Sunday AEDT), after he surveyed the affected region via helicopter.

“We know that these (numbers) will increase.”

After the flight he promised, “We will be there as a government to help them get back up (on their feet).”

Dense grey smoke blanketed the Vina del Mar area of the Valparaiso tourist region, along central Chile’s coastline, forcing residents to flee their homes.

A curfew was imposed from 9pm on Saturday to allow emergency supplies – especially fuel – into the affected areas. New evacuation orders were issued, though it remained unclear how many people had been told to leave.

Earlier on Saturday, Interior Minister Carolina Toha said there had been 92 fires as of noon, with 43,000ha burned across the country. Firefighters were still battling 29 of the blazes by the afternoon, while 40 had been brought under control.

In the hillsides around the coastal city of Vina del Mar, ­entire blocks of houses were burned out overnight, as thousands of people who had previously evacuated returned to find their homes destroyed.

Some of the dead were seen lying in the road, covered by sheets. The area, about 1.5 hours northwest of the capital Santiago, is a popular tourist destination during the summer. The coastal region is also important for the country’s wine, agricultural and logging industries.

In the towns of Estrella and Navidad, southwest of the capital, the fires burned nearly 30 homes, and forced evacuations near the surfing resort of Pichilemu.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said 63-year-old Yvonne Guzman. When the flames started to close in on her home in Quilpue, she fled with her elderly mother, only to be trapped in traffic for hours.

Vina del Mar Mayor Macarena Ripamonti said: “We’re facing an unprecedented catastrophe, a situation of this magnitude has never happened in the Valparaiso region.”

Several thousand hectares have burned in Valparaiso alone, according to the national forest authority.

Images from trapped motorists have gone viral online, showing mountains in flames at the end of the famous “Route 68”, a road travelled by thousands of tourists to reach the Pacific coast.

Blazes were also being fought in the centre and south of Chile, including O’Higgins, Maule, Biobio, La Araucania and Los Lagos.

AFp