The Chilean authorities expressed fears yesterday, Friday, of a death toll of about ten after the fierce forest fires that led the president Gabriel Borich to declare a state of emergency.

“We have preliminary information that speaks of people who have lost their lives, about ten,” announced Sofia Gonzalez Cortes, the representative of the state in the region of Valparaiso (central Chile).

The Chilean president announced that he had declared a state of emergency so that “all the necessary means are available” to fight the fires that are spreading in the central and southern regions of the Latin American country.

The fires are spreading mainly in the tourist districts Viña del Mar and Valparaisowhere they threaten hundreds of homes and the authorities proceeded with the mandatory evacuation of areas.

In the Valparaiso region alone, the fire burned 4,800 hectares, according to Conaf, Chile’s national forest office.

Heat and drought, due to the El Nino climate phenomenon, are hitting Latin America this summer, causing wildfires that are being exacerbated by climate change.

After Chile and Colombia, the heat wave risks hitting Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil in the coming days.