At least 23 dead in fire-ravaged Chile

At least 23 people have died and 979 have been injured in connection with the forest fires raging in Chile. Several countries have offered support to fight over 230 fires.

Around 2,300 firefighters are fighting to put down a total of 232 fires that were still raging on Saturday evening, according to the country’s Deputy Interior Minister Manuel Monsalve. 16 of them had taken off earlier in the day.

Several of those who have died are firefighters and rescue workers.

Most of the forest fires are raging in the regions of Biobío and neighboring Ñuble, where the government has declared a state of emergency for better coordination with the military.

On Saturday, the state of emergency was extended to also apply to the neighboring region of Araucania.

Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico and Spain have offered to send equipment and firefighters to help.

A heat wave that has hit the country has, in combination with wind, made extinguishing work more difficult. On Saturday, temperatures of 40 degrees were reached.

A fire risk that would have been considered extreme in Chile just three years ago has become more common every year, according to Chile’s Interior Minister Carolina Toha.

– We are becoming one of the (nations) most vulnerable to fires, above all due to developments with climate change, she says.