Forest fires across south-central Chile that have left 24 people dead, swallowed up hundreds of houses and left thousands injured in their wake spread into new areas on Wednesday after raging overnight.
"We call on everyone who can to take care of the forests which are currently on fire, and also of our animals, specimens of vital importance," said Valentina Aravena, the manager at a wildlife rehabilitation center in Chillan.
Chile's national forests association CONAF said on Wednesday the area affected by the fires had now spread to over 300,000 hectares (3,000 square kilometers), nearly two times bigger than Greater London.
Some 2,180 people have been injured and 1,180 houses have been destroyed, authorities said, with most of the deaths and damages taking place across the south-central Biobio and Araucania.
