The devastating wildfires tearing across large parts of Chile are believed to be the country’s deadliest on record, according to the United Nations disaster agency, as firefighters struggle to contain more than 160 blazes after days of burning.
The fires have claimed at least 123 lives and hundreds of people are still missing, according to Chilean authorities. Officials also said that 33 bodies have been identified and 79 autopsies have been conducted. Hundreds more remain missing and the death toll is expected to rise, according to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. The wildfires have devastated swaths of central and northern Chile, destroying thousands of homes and buildings and turning neighborhoods to ash.
The president declared Monday and Tuesday as days of national mourning for fire victims. Chile’s catastrophic fires have been driven by the impacts of El Niño — a natural climate fluctuation that has a global heating effect — colliding with the longterm trend of global warming, which is fueling more intense and more frequent drought and heat waves.