At least 16 people have died in more than 250 forest fires in central Chile, where an intense heat wave is raging, according to a new report presented on Saturday February 4 by the authorities.
To date, out of 251 active fires, 80 are out of control, said the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred).
According to him, 24 other people were injured and 88 homes were destroyed.
A previous toll reported 13 dead on Friday.
Among them, a pilot of Bolivian nationality and a mechanic of Chilean nationality who crashed in a helicopter which was fighting fires, according to Senapred.
These fires occur during an extreme heat wave with temperatures close to 40ºC, which makes authorities fear a disaster like that of 2017.
That year, a gigantic forest fire killed 11 people, affected some 6,000 people, destroyed more than 1,500 houses and ravaged 467,000 hectares of land.
With AFP
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