Forest fires in Chile: around ten deaths feared, state of exception declared. The fires have plunged the popular seaside resort of Vina del Mar into a cloud of smoke and are threatening hundreds of homes.
In the Valparaiso region alone, the fire devoured more than 7,000 hectares, according to CONAF, the Chilean national forestry office. Images that have gone viral on social networks, shot by trapped motorists, show the mountains engulfed in flames at the end of the famous "route 68"