The death toll from the devastating fires that hit the Chilean tourist region of Valparaiso continues to rise, with a total of 131 victims recorded so far, with many missing and homeless.
Chile is marking the second, last national day of mourning for the victims of the fire, and state services announced that at least 131 people died in total, compared to 123 the day before, reports AFP.
So far, only 35 victims have been successfully identified.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric called the fires "the biggest tragedy" to hit the country since the 2010 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 500 lives.
Nine more fires are active in the forested areas of the affected region, but they are under control and no longer threaten populated areas, an official from Valparaiso told Agence France-Presse.
Firefighters claim that the fire could be extinguished within seven days.
However, due to summer in the southern hemisphere and high temperatures, 165 fires are still burning in ten regions of Chile.
Pope Francis, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the US, the EU, France, Spain and Mexico expressed their solidarity and offered help to the South American country.
The heat wave that hit central and southern Chile, a consequence of the El Niño climate phenomenon, engulfed the entire south of the continent, causing large fires in Argentina as well.
In the south of Patagonia, in the Argentine province of Chubut, the fire ravaged about 6.000 hectares of forest.
Argentine firefighters are also battling another fire in an important nature reserve in the neighboring province of Rio Negro.
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