According to government officials, at least 22 people have perished as a result of massive forest fires in south-central Chile.

The death toll has been verified as 22 during a news conference on Saturday by interior minister Carolina Tohá. She stated that 1,429 people were staying in shelters, 554 were hurt, and 16 people who had severe burns were in critical condition.

View of burned trees during a fire on February 3, 2023 in Santa Juana, Concepcion province, Chile.
View of burned trees during a fire on February 3, 2023 in Santa Juana, Concepcion province, Chile.
The amount of forest and woodland that Chile generally loses over the course of a year has been burned in twenty-eight of the hundreds of fires that have broken out in recent days, according to Tohá.

In several of the afflicted districts of Chile, the minister also mentioned record-breaking high temperatures.

Tohá said that the temperature had reached previously unheard-of heights.

According to CNN Chile, President Gabriel Boric tweeted on Saturday that neighboring Argentina would deploy equipment and firefighters to help put out the fires raging in Chile’s south-central region.

Ad Feedback Alberto Fernández, his Argentinian colleague, and Boric had a conversation to “coordinate and thank Argentina in the fight against the fires,” according to Boric. In addition to firefighters, we will get equipment.

Boric stated that he would look to other nations for additional assistance in putting out the fires.

“We are setting up assistance from different nations to deal with the problem. We won’t let them be abandoned, he tweeted.