At least 22 people have died in more than 250 wildfires in central Chile, which is being ravaged by an intense heatwave, according to a new rising figure released by authorities on Saturday.
There are also 554 injured, 16 of them seriously, said Interior Secretary Carolina Toha.
Of 251 active fires, 80 were out of control, the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) said.
An earlier report on Saturday reported 16 deaths, up from 13 on Friday. Among them, according to Senapred, were a pilot of Bolivian nationality and a mechanic of Chilean nationality who crashed in a helicopter fighting fires on Friday.
Faced with this situation, Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared the state of disaster in the La Araucania region after taking a similar measure for the Nuble and Biobio regions.
In particular, such a measure allows the authorities to restrict the movement of people and to call in the army if they deem it necessary.
President Boric broke his vacation on Friday to go to the city of Concepcion, 510 km south of the capital Santiago.
“We will not leave you alone,” the President promised the affected Chileans on Twitter.
These fires occur during an extreme heatwave, with temperatures nearing 40C, raising fears among authorities of a disaster like the one in 2017.
That year, a gigantic forest fire caused 11 deaths, about 6,000 victims, destroyed more than 1,500 houses and devastated 467,000 hectares of land.