Chile wildfire death toll rises to 18

SANTIAGO -- Chilean President Gabriel Boric said Sunday that the death toll from wildfires ravaging the country's south-central region has reached 18 and is expected to rise further.

"Today we have a confirmed number of 18 fatalities, but unfortunately we are certain that this figure will rise," Boric told reporters in Concepcion in the Biobio region, about 500 km south of Santiago.

He said preliminary estimates indicate around 300 homes have been destroyed in Biobio alone, warning that the final number could exceed 1,000.

Authorities imposed curfews starting Saturday evening in the municipalities of Penco, Nacimiento and Laja, while in Lirquen, one of the hardest-hit areas, a curfew had begun earlier and remains indefinite after fires affected about 80 percent of the locality.

According to the National Forestry Corporation, Chile currently has 14 active wildfires under red alert, with more than 24,000 hectares burned nationwide. The largest blaze is in Concepcion, which has affected over 10,600 hectares.

Boric has declared a state of catastrophe in the regions of Nuble and Biobio to address the emergency.