SANTIAGO: On Sunday, firefighters in Chile fought dozens of raging wildfires in an effort to bring one of the nation's worst natural disasters in recent memory under control as the death toll reached at least 24 and nearly 1,000 more people were injured.
The most intense wildfires torched forests and farmland clustered around three regions near the middle of the South American country's long Pacific coastline. On Sunday, aid from a few nations that have pledged resources, including planes and skilled firefighting teams, began to arrive.
To expedite relief, President Gabriel Boric issued emergency declarations for the largely rural southern regions of Biobio, Nuble, and Araucania.
Speaking on Sunday from the Araucanian city of Puren, Boric emphasized that his government would provide all necessary resources while also trying to rally people against the deadly wildfires.
"I've seen our people's tenacity, and it's precisely that spirit that needs to lead us through this trying time," he said. "When we put it all together, we'll win this."
According to officials, the fires have burned through an area roughly the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, or 270,000 hectares.
The Southern Hemisphere's summer heat wave has made it more difficult to put out fires because temperatures in some of the worst-affected areas have exceeded 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 Celsius).
On Saturday night, light from the flames illuminated boats in the small harbor as pockets of intense fire could be seen leaping out from the forested hills off the coast near the town of Dichato just outside the city of Concepcion in the Biobio region.
More than half of the reported victims of the fires, or 13, are from Biobio, which, like Nuble and Araucania, has large tracts of forest as well as farms that produce grapes and other exportable fruits.
For those who were fortunate enough to have options before the approaching flames, the fires in some places prompted a mad dash for safety.
"Get in the water at the pool! Enter the pool to your neck's depth "Although she declined to give her name, a woman in hard-hit Biobio recalled yelling at her parents at the family's home outside of the town of Santa Juana.
She spoke of a hasty search for a place to take cover, one that involved leaving behind vehicles and pleading with neighbours to join them in the pool. Officials from the interior ministry reported on Sunday that there are about 260 fires burning throughout the parched area, with 28 of them being deemed particularly dangerous.
Over 1,500 people have sought refuge in nearby shelters. The 970 injured are listed as having at least 26 serious injuries, according to local hospitals. Officials in Chile have asked for international assistance to put out the fires, which are starting up again every day. According to the authorities, they were facilitating the delivery of aid from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, and Venezuela. There was already some foreign assistance present.
Officials announced on Sunday that a Spanish military unit would make it, and that a "Ten Tanker" aircraft with a 36,000-liter firefighting capacity should arrive on Monday.
According to Chile's foreign ministry, two military planes, about 300 volunteers from Mexico, and a specialized team of personnel and trucks from Argentina also arrived on Sunday.