A fire raging in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso has killed at least seven people and destroyed 500 homes, officials said Sunday. Thousands have been evacuated, including more than 200 female inmates at a prison.
Firefighters struggled as high winds rained hot ash over the wooden houses and narrow streets of the city of 250,000, where people use staircases to reach some of the neighborhoods that hug steep hills between the forest and the sea.
"This is the worst disaster I have seen," regional governor Ricardo Bravo said. "Now we fear that the fire will spread to the center of the city, which would increase the severity of the emergency."