The President of Chile announces a significant increase in the death toll from forest fires

Chilean President Gabriel Boric said on Sunday that the death toll from raging forest fires in the country has risen to 64 and is likely to increase in the coming days.
He added, in a speech broadcast on television, “We know that this number will increase. It will increase a lot.”
He added that the country is facing a “very big tragedy.”

The forest fires, which began several days ago, threaten the outskirts of Viña del Mar and Valparaíso, two coastal tourist cities.
Chilean authorities imposed a curfew starting at 9 p.m. in the most affected areas and deployed army personnel to help firefighters stop the spread of the fires, while helicopters sprayed water in an attempt to extinguish the flames.
Boric, who declared two days of national mourning starting Monday, said Chile should prepare for more bad news. A previous toll indicated that 51 people were killed.
The authorities said that hundreds of people were still missing and that the number of damaged homes exceeded 1,000. Officials said on Saturday that more than 90 fires had broken out across Chile.