Chile declares state of emergency as wildfires kill at least 18 people

Uncontrolled Wildfires tore through communities in southern Chile, leaving charred ruins in their wake and at least 18 dead, authorities said on Sunday.More than 50,000 people have been displaced by blazes burning for two days now in the Nuble and Biobio regions about 500 km (300 miles) south of Santiago, fanned by strong winds and hot weather.“We had to leave with the shirts on our back. If we had stayed another 20 minutes we would have burned to death,” Matias Cid, a 25-year-old student in the city of Penco, told Agence France-Presse.He described fast-moving flames burning through the night and devouring homes.Video of the aftermath shows a bleak, empty cityscape of charred homes and burnt pickup trucks and cars.Most of the fatalities from the Wildfires in the region have so far been in Penco, Mayor Rodrigo Vera said.President Gabriel Boric declared a state of emergency in Nuble and Biobio as nearly 4,000 firefighters battled the Wildfires raging during the high temperatures of the southern hemisphere summer. The order allows for the deployment of the armed forces to help.