SANTIAGO, Chile—Forest fires roared across a heavily populated swath of central Chile, killing about 100 people and destroying some 3,000 homes, according to government officials. The destruction is disrupting Latin America’s most market-friendly economy.
Some 370 people were missing, Mayor Macarena Ripamonti of Viña del Mar said early Sunday. Her city, along with hillside communities around the port city of Valparaiso, have borne the brunt of the damage from the fires that began Friday.
In a televised address late Saturday, President Gabriel Boric warned that “given the conditions of the tragedy, the number of victims will surely go up.”
On Sunday, as he toured the hard-hit town of Quilpue, Boric said the disaster was the worst since the 8.8-magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2010 that killed more than 500 people. The number of victims from the fires “will increase significantly,” said the president, who declared two days of mourning.