Wildfires raging across central and southern Chile left at least 15 people dead on Sunday, prompting an extraordinary public rebuke from a local mayor who accused President Gabriel Boric's government of abandoning burning communities for hours whilst destruction mounted. Rodrigo Vera, mayor of the small coastal town of Penco in the Biobio region, made an emotional plea to the president after waiting four hours for federal assistance as flames consumed his town.
'Dear President Boric, from the bottom of my heart, I have been here for four hours, a community is burning and there is no government presence,' Vera said. 'How can a minister do nothing but call me to tell me that the military is going to arrive at some point?' The criticism came despite Boric declaring a state of catastrophe for the Biobio and neighbouring Ñuble regions, located approximately 500 kilometres south of Santiago, and writing on social media that 'all resources are available'. Two dozen wildfires blazed through 8,500 hectares of forest and forced 50,000 people to evacuate, according to Chilean Security Minister Luis Cordero.
