The Chilean Government declared a state of emergency in the region after massive forest fires in the Nuble region, south of the capital, Santiago. Officials announced that 200,000 hectares of land were destroyed following a total of 179 fires that erupted in the country. Chile’s Minister of Agriculture, Maria Emilia Undurraga, stated that more than 2,000 forested areas were burned.
More than 120 households have been rendered uninhabitable as a result of the fire that erupted on Chile’s Chiloe Island in recent weeks, forcing 500 people to flee their homes.