CONCEPCION: The death toll in forest fires raging through southern Chile has increased overnight to 16, officials said Saturday. The death toll was three from the toll announced late Friday.
Eleven of the deaths were in the town of Santa Juana, in the province of Concepcion, authorities said earlier in the day.
At least 88 homes and 47,000 hectares of forest were destroyed by the fires, sparked by a devastating heat wave, and sweeping through 47,000 hectares of forest, officials said.
According to the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service, at least 24 people have been injured.
It said there were 251 active fires, 80 of which were out of control.
Chile declared a state of disaster earlier in several central-southern areas - including the Nuble and Biobio regions - allowing extra resources to be rushed to the area - but fires have also affected the Maule and La Araucania regions.
The dead included two crewmen of a helicopter fighting fires who were killed in a crash Friday afternoon, officials said.
One firefighter has died, and at least eight have been injured while fighting the blazes.
More than 2,300 firefighters and 75 aircraft have been deployed in the region.
President Gabriel Boric suspended his holiday to visit the affected area.
The heatwave, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius, has created fears that there will be a repeat of 2017, when 11 people were killed and 1,500 destroyed in the same region.