Chilean President-elect Jose Antonio Kast will inherit a crisis as raging wildfires left at least 19 people dead and hundreds homeless over the weekend, setting up a lengthy reconstruction process on his watch.
Blazes continued to burn Monday in the center-south regions of Biobio and Nuble, leaving neighborhoods charred and choking under thick smoke while prompting the evacuation of more than 50,000 people.
Towns near the industrial port city of Concepcion, some 500 kilometers south of the capital Santiago, were hit the hardest as flames were fanned by strong winds and dry heat, with temperatures nearing 38 degrees Celsius. Forestry and some farming land were also damaged.
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