- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
In Chile, natural disasters fall on all-volunteer fire service
From earthquakes to tsunamis and massive fires, Chile is prone to natural disasters -- but the firefighters called up to tackle them are all volunteers with day jobs, like architect Jorge Pena or insurance salesman Cristian Lobos.
Both men dashed to the scene of the world's third-worst wildfire tragedy last weekend in the country's coastal Valparaiso region, where 131 people have been killed and entire communities razed.
Pena, a 33-year-old architect, drove 12 hours from his home in southern Chile to help fight the raging inferno.
He said that in his 11 years as a volunteer firefighter, "what has most shocked me has been the magnitude of the destruction of this fire."
The job has had hair-raising moments, such as when he found himself surrounded by flames during a 2017 "firestorm."
"Before, I didn't think about it when attending these emergencies, but now I think about it a little more. My son is almost a year old," he said.
Nevertheless, "I will always continue" as a volunteer, he adds.
Pena and his colleagues are now focused on clearing debris and cooling down areas they spot with residual embers -- to remove the possibility of them reigniting, and also so that bodies can be retrieved.
Without a state-funded fire service, Chile relies on some 50,000 men and women like Pena, who are financed by foreign, private and state donations.
Their organization is a kind of NGO that has its own training academy, though members do not receive any remuneration for their dangerous work.
- 'Until you die' -
Lobos, a 43-year-old father of three, normally sells health insurance policies in Vina del Mar -- which has now become the worst-hit area in the fires.
He hung up his tie to help extinguish the flames as they consumed densely populated neighborhoods, and is now leading a group looking for human remains in the charred skeletons of burned-out houses.
"We have recovered victims in varying states... bodies completely charred, others slightly burned," he said.
Lobos has been a volunteer for 23 years.
"When you take the decision, you do the courses, and generally stick with it until you die."
Since the fires surged on Friday -- in the country's worst tragedy since a 2010 earthquake and tsunami -- he has slept little and only spoken to his children via video call.
He lives near the suburb of Villa Independencia, where 19 people died, and says he saw everything -- including "how the fire advanced, how houses, lives, animals and cars were affected."
Lobos said the inferno was the "most chaotic and violent" of the emergencies has assisted with.
"Our own firefighters lost homes or cars," although luckily none had lost their lives or loved ones, he said.
He added he is proud of the fact that in Chile, volunteer firefighters can count on the "understanding" of their employers and families.
He plans to keep going as a volunteer "until I die, or my body no longer allows me to contribute."
P.Costa--AMWN