Wildfires raging across central and southern Chile have killed at least 18 people, scorched thousands of hectares of forest and destroyed hundreds 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 300 miles (500km) south of Santiago, the capital

Source: The Guardian January 20, 2026 10:18 UTC