La siguiente es la crónica del diario británico The Guardian informando de la tragedia que afecta a las regiones del Biobío y Ñuble, notas similares publican las principales agencias de noticias del mundo.

Wildfires raging across central and southern Chile have killed at least 18 people, scorched thousands of hectares of forest and destroyed scores of homes, authorities said, as the South American country swelters under a heatwave.

Chile’s president, Gabriel Boric, declared a state of catastrophe in the country’s central Biobío region and the neighbouring Ñuble region, about 500km (300 miles) south of Santiago, the capital.

The emergency designation allows greater coordination with the military to rein in two dozen wildfires that have so far blazed through 8,500 hectares (21,000 acres) and prompted 50,000 people to evacuate, according to the Chilean security minister, Luis Cordero.

But local officials reported that for hours on Sunday, destruction was everywhere and help from the federal government was nowhere.

“Dear president Boric, from the bottom of my heart, I have been here for four hours, a community is burning and there is no [government] presence,” said Rodrigo Vera, the mayor of the small coastal town of Penco in the Biobío region. “How can a minister do nothing but call me to tell me that the military is going to arrive at some point?”

Residents said the fires took them by surprise after midnight, trapping them in their homes.

“Many people didn’t evacuate. They stayed in their houses because they thought the fire would stop at the edge of the forest,” said John Guzmán, 55, surveying the scene in Penco, where smoke blanketed the sky in an orange haze. “It was completely out of control. No one expected it.”

Although the total number of homes burned nationwide remained unclear, one municipality of Concepción in Biobío reported 253 homes destroyed.