The worst fires were burning near urban areas in the Valparaíso region, which is northwest of the capital, Santiago. At least 1,300 homes have been destroyed in the city of Quilpue, Boric said.
Macarena Ripamonti, the mayor of Viña del Mar, said Saturday at least 372 people there are missing. She described it as an “unprecedented tragedy.” Boric declared a state of emergency and asked for more military personnel to immediately deploy to the affected areas, home to more than 1 million people.
Across the country, some 92 fires were burning Saturday, and responders had managed to control 40 of them. The blazes spread to at least 43,000 hectares, or more than 106,000 acres, according to Interior Minister Carolina Tohá.
At a news conference late Saturday, Tohá said that Chile was facing its deadliest disaster since 2010 when an earthquake killed more than 500 people.
Authorities are investigating the possibility that at least one of the fires was deliberately lit.
“While it is difficult to imagine who would be willing to cause so much tragedy and so much pain, know that we will investigate,” Boric said Saturday.
Officials have not yet released the names of the victims.
Wildfires are relatively common in Chile during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer months. The peak fire season typically begins in early December and lasts several months.
This year, a change to the El Niño weather pattern — which causes rising sea temperatures near South America — has led to soaring temperatures and heat waves across the region, including in the Chilean capital, Santiago.
Colombia’s government last month asked for international help to combat raging wildfires spanning nearly 40,000 hectares
