The death toll from wildfires in the central Chilean region of Valparaiso is nearing 100 after President Gabriel Boric earlier announced the preliminary death toll at 64 and that the death toll would continue to “rise exponentially”. This is significant,” reports AFP. Agerpres.

Fires in Chile have caused enormous damage, killing at least 64 peoplePhoto: RODRIGO ARANGUA / AFP / Profimedia

UPDATE The death toll would be between 64 and 99, according to funeral services cited by AFP.

  • “I can unfortunately confirm that there are 64 dead. This number will increase, we know it will increase significantly,” Boric said in Quilpue, on the outskirts of Viña del Mar.

In Quilpue, a town 90 km northwest of Santiago de Chile, an AFP team saw entire neighborhoods and charred cars. On Friday, thousands of residents were blocked for several hours trying to escape in their cars.

“This is the biggest tragedy we have faced since the 2010 earthquake,” President Boric said, referring to the 8.8-magnitude earthquake and tsunami on February 27, 2010 that killed more than 500 people.

According to the National Emergency Service (Senapred), firefighters were still battling 34 fires on Sunday morning and had managed to contain 43.