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Burning house in Santa Juana, Chile
Photo: PABLO HIDALGO/EPA
The number of dead in the severe forest fires in Chile has risen to at least 24.
An injured person died in hospital from his burns, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.
In addition, almost 1,200 people have been injured in the center and south of the country and around 800 houses have been destroyed by the flames, said Deputy Minister Manuel Monsalve.
By evening (local time), civil protection had counted 283 fires, 151 of which were under control.
The fires have spread over an area of 270,000 hectares.
President Gabriel Boric canceled his vacation and traveled to one of the affected regions.
There he first took part in the wake for a firefighter who had died in action.
He paid tribute to the work of the firefighters and promised reconstruction aid for those affected.
"Saving lives and extinguishing the fires is currently a priority," emphasized the head of state in the village of Purén in the Araucania region.
Heat makes extinguishing work difficult
The causes of the fires were initially unclear.
The great heat with temperatures around 40 degrees in the regions of Ñuble, Bío Bío and Araucania made extinguishing work difficult.
It is midsummer in the South American country.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, ten people have been arrested so far because they are said to have intentionally set fires.
They faced between five and 20 years in prison, said Deputy Interior Minister Monsalve.
A 50-strong team from Spain's Emergency Military Unit (UME) arrived on Sunday to help fight the fires.
In total, thousands of firefighters and dozens of planes are deployed.
The Chilean government had asked for international help.
ala/dpa
