- 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
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
'Catastrophic' Chile wildfires leave at least 19 dead
Wildfires blazing across central and southern Chile have left at least 19 people dead, officials said Saturday, warning the toll was likely to climb as responders comb through burnt-out homes and the flames continue to spread.
President Gabriel Boric has decreed a state of emergency "due to catastrophe" over the fires, as dry conditions in the area and temperatures soaring to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) exacerbate the crisis.
The blazes are concentrated in the Valparaiso tourist region, along central Chile's coastline, where they have ravaged thousands of hectares of forest, cloaked coastal cities in a dense fog of gray smoke and forced people to flee their homes.
Authorities declared a curfew for Saturday morning in the two regions until noon (1500 GMT) to facilitate the movement of evacuees and emergency responders.
"There are 19 people dead," Interior Minister Carolina Toha said Saturday, noting that the toll is "very provisional" because responders have not yet been able to enter some affected areas.
She said there were 92 active fires, with 43,000 hectares (106,000 acres) burned across the country.
"The priority is on the fires in the Valparaiso region because of their proximity to urban areas, where we have several fires," said Toha.
She said more firefighting vehicles were not required at the moment because the area "is not very large. It is very dense, but not very extensive."
In the hillsides around the coastal city of Vina del Mar, entire blocks of homes were burned out overnight, AFP reporters saw Saturday morning.
Some dead victims could be seen lying in the road covered in sheets.
The area, about 1.5 hours northwest of the capital Santiago, is a popular tourist destination during the hot summer months.
In the towns of Estrella and Navidad, southwest of the capital, the fires have burned nearly 30 homes, and forced evacuations near the surfing resort of Pichilemu.
"I've never seen anything like it," 63-year-old Yvonne Guzman told AFP. When the flames started to close in on her home in Quilpue, she fled with her elderly mother, only to be trapped in traffic for hours.
"It's very distressing, because we've evacuated the house but we can't move forward. There are all these people trying to get out and who can't move," she said.
- 'Extreme' -
"All forces are deployed in the fight against the forest fires," Boric said Friday in a message posted to social media platform X.
Around 7,000 hectares have been burned in Valparaiso alone, according to CONAF, the Chilean national forest authority, which called the blazes "extreme."
Images filmed by trapped motorists have gone viral online, showing mountains in flames at the end of the famous "Route 68," a road used by thousands of tourists to get to the Pacific coast beaches.
In addition to Valparaiso, firefighters and emergency services personnel are battling 10 outbreaks affecting regions in the center and south of the country, including O'Higgins, Maule, Biobio, La Araucania and Los Lagos.
On Friday, authorities closed the road linking Valparaiso to the capital Santiago, as a huge mushroom cloud of smoke "reduced visibility."
The fires are being driven by a summer heatwave and drought affecting the southern part of South America caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon, as scientists warn that a warming planet has increased the risk of natural disasters such as intense heat and fires.
As Chile and Colombia battle rising temperatures, the heatwave is also threatening to sweep over Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil in the coming days.
Y.Kobayashi--AMWN